Naruto
by FastForward
Summary: Everyone knows where Naruto’s from. Everyone knows his world. What if Naruto’s world—wasn’t exactly what we thought it was? SasuNaru
1. Of Truths

**Hey Everyone!**

**50th fic!**

**Long overdue, I know. My bad –sweatdrop- Work has been killer, I work five times a week, and on my two days off, I have so much to do that writing isn't really an option. Since this is the case, I can't promise this will be updated daily, and I'm sure y'all would rather quality over quantity, right? So I'll try for every two days or so, but like I said, no promises. **

**Also, my beta's on holidays, and I feel bad asking her to check my stuff when she's busy with her own job, so there might be a few mistakes, and I'm sorry, but please bear with me -sweatdrop-**

**Warnings:  
- YAOI: Before I go any further, I would like to point something out: THIS IS A **_**SASUNARU**_**! Yes, **_**SasuNaru**_**! It's gonna have some Sasu and some Naru, okay? So after reading the statement that follows, remember, **_**this is a SASUNARU**_**! There will be some NaruSaku. JUSTIFIED NARUSAKU, OMG PLEASE DON'T LEAVE! T.T I swear, it's justified, and it's so slight it's like it's not even there. I don't even think they're going to kiss or anything. So remember, **_**SASUNARU**_**! (Eventually...) And yes, this means yaoi. **_**  
**_**- OOC: This is an AU… sorta… well, it's hard to explain, but just know there's gonna be some hardcore OOCness which I can explain better in chapter two, but keep that in mind.  
- Spoilers: I'll try my best **_**not**_** to have spoilers, but I'm pretty sure I'll have **_**one**_** regarding a moment in chapter… erm… 311-ish. But I'm going to try my very best to ensure that the spoilers are kept to a minimum so that everyone can read and enjoy.  
- Sakura bashing: I DO NOT HATE SAKURA! I felt the need to clarify that. I REALLY like Sakura, but due to the nature of this fic and how I want it to come out, there's going to be some Sakura hate in here. But I DON'T hate her!**

**I think that's it, hope I haven't missed anything… Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine. Actually, none of my fic ideas are ever even mine. In FACT, nothing I ever write is even mine, not even this! ...Just kidding! But really, Naruto isn't mine. **

**Dedicated: To RubyPlushie, because she is awesome. **

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* * *

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Uzumaki Naruto walked into the Hokage's office, the eighteen year old looking confident as he stopped in front of Sannin Tsunade's desk. He stood tall, his eyes calm and focused, his posture between being rigid and relaxed. This was no longer the boy from all those years ago. He had grown, matured. He'd gotten stronger, and now, he was ready.

Tsunade stared at him, her chin resting on her folded hands, her elbows propped up.

"You're sure?"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

The Hokage winced, missing the days when the energetic blonde would burst into her office, calling her an old hag. Those days had disappeared too quickly for her liking, showing just how hard the blond had worked in order to change.

Showing how badly he wanted this.

"There may be no way to save him." she whispered. "No way to bring him back."

"I'm still going to try." Naruto insisted. "According to my research, the soul of a person cannot be expelled from the body, nor can it be taken over. Based on what I've discovered, due to his power, Orochimaru has the ability to push and contain the other person's soul, much like the Kyuubi and myself. I believe that if the floodgates were to open—if I were to break the seal containing Sasuke's soul—it might be able to force Orochimaru out of his head."

"What if Sasuke doesn't want him out?" Tsunade had to go there, despite not wanting to.

"Theoretically, it shouldn't matter. A body cannot have two free souls, and it will reflexively expel the one that doesn't belong."

The Hokage stared at her charge. She was always impressed with the amount of research he had put into this. Naruto had never been an incredibly studious person, but once it was clear that Sasuke's body had been taken over, he had spent all of his free time looking through the Fourth's scrolls, researching souls, and training. Orochimaru was a formidable foe, but Naruto himself was probably even deadlier.

"If I send you on this mission—"

"Hoka—"

"Listen." Tsunade ordered, narrowing her eyes. The blond stayed silent, something he wouldn't have done two or three years ago. She almost wished he _would_ argue with her. "If I send you on this mission, someone's going with you."

"No."

"This isn't open for debate." Tsunade snapped, her eyes narrowing further. "You'll go accompanied, or not at all."

The Hokage could see Naruto's fists clenching but his expression remained neutral, and when he spoke, it was still with the utmost respect he'd been giving her of late.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, I don't think that's a good idea. Anyone else present would just distract me."

"Maybe, but they'll ensure you don't get yourself killed." She stood. "I've already arranged for a team to accompany you, and if you wish to go on this mission, you'll go with them. If you leave them behind, you will be considered a Nukenin and you will be hunted down by ANBU. I'll even send your own subordinates after you, _Captain_."

Naruto's jaw clenched as he turned to her, his fists shaking angrily. "You've thought this out, haven't you?"

"I've known you've wanted this since Sasuke's body was taken over." Tsunade pulled open the office door. "Did you really think I wouldn't be ready?"

"Yo." Hatake Kakashi smiled, raising one hand in greeting. "Long time no see."

"No kidding." Haruno Sakura walked into the office, poking Naruto's cheek. "You've been such a hermit the last couple of months. Probably living off ramen, huh? The only time I saw you was when your ANBU team got sent out on missions."

"What is this?" Naruto grit his teeth as he saw his former teammates. Even Baikan Sai was present, smiling mysteriously by the door.

"This is the team accompanying you." Tsunade informed. "You all know Sasuke in some way, and I've decided it would be the best team to go with you."

Naruto was shaking with rage. She was making his most important people follow him to a death he wanted to experience alone.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Oh, come off it." Sakura hit him across the back of the head. "I don't think we should bother at all, personally, but if you're determined to get yourself killed, I'm going with you."

"Me too." Sai said with a smile. "After all, someone with such a small p—"

"All right!" Naruto exploded. "I get it!" He turned to glare at Tsunade. "When are we leaving?"

"Whenever you like." Her eyes darkened. "Stay safe, gaki. I won't lose you to him."

"You won't." Naruto turned and stalked out of the office.

* * *

"Naruto, surprisingly enough, Orochimaru is _still_ going to be in Sound by the time we get there."

"Your point?"

"There's no need to rush." Kakashi grabbed the back of Naruto's Jounin vest, yanking him back. "You've waited this long, you can wait a few more days."

Naruto growled. _This_ was _another_ reason why he'd wanted to come alone. He was _never_ going to get there, at this rate! It would take forever!

"Naruto, what's the point of rushing there, arriving exhausted, and losing?" Sakura asked as she stretched.

_She has a point,_ the reasonable part of Naruto's brain insisted. The rest of his brain chose not to reply, growling instead.

It would take them a few days to get to Sound—_probably more like a __**month**__ at the speed these three are going_—but they were all confident everything would go according to plan. Their plan was fairly simple, after all. Get to Sound, perform the ritual that would free Sasuke's soul, and then get out of there. Of course, they would have to be careful with Orochimaru, because his soul would be trying to attach itself to another one of their bodies, or even trying to re-enter Sasuke's. It was risky, and they all knew it, but Naruto was confident that if he stayed the closest to Sasuke after Orochimaru was expelled, everything would be fine. After all, if Orochimaru tried to enter _his_ body, Kyuubi would throw a fit.

"So, what's the plan?" Sakura asked as she raised her hands up above her head and let out a loud grunt as she stretched. "Other than, you know, getting Sasuke back."

"No 'kun' at the end, there, Sakura?" Kakashi teased. The rosette glared at him.

It was common knowledge that Sakura still loved Sasuke, but she tried to convince herself that she didn't. It hurt less when she thought about him. About what he'd done; how _stupid_ he was. Sometimes, she was ashamed of liking him, but there was nothing she could do about it. It's always hardest to let go of your first love.

"We're going in, performing the ritual, and getting out." Naruto informed.

"What a marvellous plan, oh great ANBU Captain." Sakura exclaimed. "Brilliant. Couldn't have said it better myself."

She hit Naruto across the back of the head. He just winced. He'd gotten used to her beating him up.

"I meant an _actual_ plan!"

"What more do you want?" Naruto growled. "We're going to sneak in when it's dark and they're least expecting it, then we'll get to Orochimaru's room and perform the ritual. I don't know how complicated you expect this to be."

Sakura groaned. "Sai, knock some sense into your best friend, will you?"

"Naruto doesn't listen to me." He smiled pleasantly at Sakura. "I just like to pretend he does."

"Aren't you a higher rank?"

"Doesn't mean he'll listen to me."

"Maa, Naruto." Kakashi grabbed the back of his Jounin vest again. "You're speeding up."

The blond felt just about ready to explode.

Nearby, two Sound nins were watching the group intently as they strode forward, Kakashi reading his perverted book and holding Naruto's vest, while Sakura and Sai just started arguing with one another, something the two had always done since Sai had entered Team Seven.

The two nins glanced at one another, smirking. They were part of the new Sound Four—the old group hadn't been to Orochimaru's liking, so he had killed them—and they were eager to try out their new techniques, complete with curse seal.

"Shall we?" Chain asked his partner, Ryo.

"Lets." The two of them teleported to a location a little closer to the four travelling shinobi, staring at them intently. "Ready?"

"Always. I call the blond."

"Why do you always get all the fun?"

Chain grinned as he performed a seal and slammed his hands onto the ground.

The earth beneath them immediately began to shift and the four Leaf shinobi let out startled cries as they were suddenly sinking into the ground. They looked around, alarmed.

"This must be some kind of quick-sand!" Sakura exclaimed.

"In the middle of a forest?" Naruto hollered back.

"Well, well, well." Ryo emerged from the trees, his sword slung over his shoulder as he smirked. "Look at this. The Copy-nin, Hatake Kakashi. The Kyuubi vessel, Uzumaki Naruto. Now you would think that two such accomplished shinobi, such as yourselves, would be smarter."

"Honestly—how _dumb_ do you think we are?" Naruto rolled his eyes before the other three trapped in the earth with him turned back into their true forms. They were all Naruto.

"Dammit! Kage Bunshin!" Ryo turned and started running back towards Chain when Sai appeared in front of him, his hand on the hilt of his sword as the Sound nin stopped.

"How convenient, wouldn't you say, Uzumaki?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a sigh as his clones disappeared and he gathered chakra into his hand, slamming it into the ground at his feet, effectively freeing himself.

"The Sound gets more and more disappointing every time I encounter them." Kakashi emerged from the trees with Chain in front of him, the shinobi bound in ninja wire. He frowned and pulled down the back of the boy's shirt as he noticed something. It was a curse seal. "So, you must be part of the Sound Four."

"Wow." Naruto said. "That's so sad. Is this the best Orochimaru can send? I'm insulted!"

"You think you've won?" Chain grinned. "We haven't even started."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screamed, running towards them.

"Sakura, I'm not your sensei anymore." Kakashi sighed. "You can—"

"Shut up!" She ran right past them. "We have to go!"

"Huh? Go? Why?" Sai and Naruto turned to look back in the direction she'd come. Their eyes widened and they turned, following Sakura. Kakashi cursed and did the same, the four of them running fast before jumping up into the trees.

"Dammit! They _knew_ it wasn't us! This was all part of their plan."

"Yeah, and it _worked_!" Naruto hollered before letting out a startled cry and jumping to another tree.

The ground beneath them had come alive, and as figures emerged from the earth around the trees, it animated _them_, as well, so that they attempted to grab and trap them within their branches.

"Fire jutsu. _Fire jutsu_! A fire jutsu would be _really_ good right now!" Naruto yelled at Kakashi. The blond had never been good at fire jutsus.

The team's old sensei formed a set of seals hurriedly, but before they could finish, a branch came out and grabbed his ankle, lifting him clear off his feet.

"Kakashi!" Sakura screamed, stopping. Sai slammed into her, half-carrying her as he jumped to the next branch.

"Don't stop! He can take care of himself!" the ANBU insisted. Naruto appeared beside them, looking over his shoulder. Their sensei had disappeared amongst the trees, and he winced, hoping Kakashi would be okay.

"Look out!" Naruto looked forward again and screamed, ducking under a branch that had come alive, and falling out of the trees. He half-landed on his feet, scrambling into a standing position again to continue running. He slammed through a set of trees, appearing in a large clearing that stood on the edge of a ravine. He screeched to a halt a second before reaching the edge and looked down, breathing hard. He wouldn't be able to jump across, but he thought that maybe if he climbed down the side, he could escape detection for a while and then go back for Kakashi.

Naruto let out a barely audible sound of shock as the rocks he stood on crumbled and he fell, plummeting into the large ravine below, his eyes wide.

* * *

A doorbell rang out loudly, causing soft footsteps to pad towards the door. A click and creak later, it was open, the woman smiling brightly as she stared out at her visitor.

"You come here every day, there's no need to ring the doorbell. You can just walk in."

"Thanks, but as much as I regard you as a second mother, and as familiar as I am with this house, I would much rather ring the doorbell."

"Suit yourself." She smiled and moved aside, letting the tall teen trudge into the house. He put his backpack down beside the door and removed his shoes. With that daily ritual done, he shoved his hands deep into his pockets and trudged up the stairs.

"She's already here." was called up the stairs after him.

_I know,_ he thought to himself before opening the door at the end of the corridor.

She turned in the seat he usually occupied. She always stole it when he arrived late, and it irked him like nothing else.

"Hey, I didn't think you'd make it." The bitterness was clear in her tone. They'd never liked each other, they just forced themselves to put up with one another.

"I come here every day, why would today be any different?" he demanded, annoyed. He grabbed a stool from the corner and set it down at the foot of the bed before him, plopping down on it. "Shall we start pretending to like each other?"

"Fine." she replied dryly before sighing and plastering a smile on her face. She leaned over and ran her hand through the bed occupant's hair. "Hey, baby. It's me again."

"_And_ me." He narrowed his eyes at the bitch.

"And Sasuke." she ground out.

"Sakura likes spending time alone with you." the raven said, his arms crossed.

"Of course I do; why wouldn't I? He's my _boyfriend_." Her eyes narrowed.

"I thought we were pretending." Sasuke faked a smile.

Sakura scoffed. "You really need to find a new best friend, Naruto. Sasuke isn't worth your time, unconscious or not."

The raven grit his teeth, looking down at the figure unconscious on the bed. He had an IV inserted into the back of his hand. A breathing apparatus was hooked up to him, as well as a catheter and a G-tube—Sasuke wasn't sure why they were called that, but G-tubes provided food.

His best friend's hair was long, since Mrs. Uzumaki only cut it when it passed his shoulders. With him unconscious, it was hard for them to give him a decent haircut.

Sasuke had volunteered to shave him once a week, something he'd started back when the blond had begun to sport a mustache and beard. It had been funny for a while, but it lost its humour once it became clear Naruto wasn't laughing.

He didn't do anything, anymore. And who could blame him? The blond had been in a coma for two years.

* * *

**A/N: DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNNNNN. All will be explained in the next chapter, which I will TRY to have out tomorrow, since I have the day off. I'll try really hard :)**


	2. Of Brothers

**A/N: So, there's been a lot of confusion. Good! That was my point, muahaha. Now y'all get to see if you were right in your assumptions or not XD**

**Disclaimer: I may not own Naruto, but Kiba owns me ;)**

* * *

It had happened back when they were sixteen. Sasuke had just met up with Naruto after the blond's date with Sakura, and they were off to watch a movie. Sasuke didn't know how to describe the feelings he'd experienced back when they were fourteen and Naruto had started dating Sakura. It had been two years, and the feeling was _still_ there. 

His elder brother, Itachi, had insisted it was jealousy, but he didn't understand why the other Uchiha thought this. Naruto still spent fifty-percent of his time with Sasuke. He never dropped an appointment with the raven for Sakura, nor did he drop one with Sakura for Sasuke. He juggled the two like an expert, never giving either his best friend or his girlfriend more time than the other. Naruto had always been a fair person.

It had come out of nowhere. The two had been crossing the street at a crosswalk, following the rules of the road perfectly. A truck barrelled around the corner and the next thing Sasuke knew, he was in the hospital. He had a broken arm, cracked ribs, a black eye and one of his kneecaps was dislocated. Naruto hadn't fared any better, breaking four ribs, his nose, his left arm and getting a compound fracture in his left leg. The only difference between the two—

was that Naruto never woke up.

The doctors said he was in an early stage of a coma, but they were still hopeful that he would pull through. Then, a few months later, his brain activity suggested that he'd drowned himself within his own mind. They said that once someone entered an alternate life in their own head, the chances of them ever waking up were less than five-percent. (1)

Sasuke hadn't really understood the whole concept, so he'd researched it. From what he'd gathered, Naruto had created an alternate world in his head, one so extensive and perfect that he was no longer aware of his life outside. Because he'd lost himself so completely in the story he'd created in his head, he wasn't trying to get a grasp on his real life anymore, because as far as he knew, the story he'd created _was_ his real life.

Sasuke had read cases of people dying during comas due to their length. Others awoke and were unable to return to their lives before the coma. Everything Sasuke read made him more and more worried that when—if—Naruto woke up, he wouldn't be the same person.

_That_, more than anything, scared the raven more than death itself. He didn't think he'd be able to handle it if _his_ Naruto woke up to be a completely different person. The two of them had practically grown up together, they were best friends, they'd been planning on going to the same university and everything. It hurt Sasuke to know that if Naruto woke up, he might not even remember him.

Since the day he'd been committed to the hospital, Sasuke had been there for his best friend. He'd gone to his room every day for a few hours, and even once Sasuke had been released, he still came back. When Naruto had been transferred from the hospital to his home, Sasuke started visiting him there, too. Every day, for about two hours, the raven would come over and just talk to Naruto. He never really said anything, he just spoke. It was mindless rambles, saying anything and everything that came to mind, from the weather, to what he had for dinner the night before. He just had to talk to make himself believe that maybe, just maybe, Naruto would hear his voice and come back.

But of course, after about three months, Sakura had learned about Sasuke's visits, and being his girlfriend, she started to come to Naruto's place, too. That annoyed Sasuke, because at school, she flirted with other guys and had even started considering others to date, but the second she'd learned about what Sasuke was doing, she's come to join him, almost as if it were a war to her. To see who would bring Naruto back.

He wished she'd gotten a new boyfriend so he'd never have to see her again.

They were eighteen, they would be graduating in about six months, and the girl was _still_ fighting with Sasuke about Naruto.

Sasuke hated her. Naruto deserved better.

Though who that was, Sasuke didn't know.

* * *

Sasuke slammed his locker as the bell rang, shouldering his backpack. Inuzuka Kiba appeared beside him, elbowing him slightly in the side. 

"Yo." he said.

"Hey, man." Sasuke held out his fist and the brunette hit the raven's with his own. "How goes it?"

"Man, advanced Chem is whipping my butt." Kiba groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm gonna fail, dude."

"You'll be fine." Sasuke pushed open the door to their English class, the first thing his eyes finding being Sakura leaning _way_ too close to Abumi Zaku. She even had her hand on his upper thigh. The raven let out a sound of disgust before falling down in a chair, Kiba sitting beside him.

"God, that little bitch needs to stop. Either she breaks up with Naruto and stops visiting him, or she stops flirting with these fuckers." He jerked his head in Sakura's direction. "Speaking of blondie, how's he doing?"

"He's been the same for two years, Kiba, what makes you think yesterday was any different?" Sasuke sighed as he took his English book out and dropped his bag at his feet. The brunette shrugged, leaning back in his chair so the two front legs rose off the ground.

"A guy can hope, can't he? Shit, he's been out so long, I'm starting to think—" He cut himself off as he noticed Sasuke's clenched fists. He dropped back onto all four legs of his chair. "Hey, sorry, dude."

"It's cool." Sasuke replied. "I just—can't imagine going off to uni without him, you know? He and I, we've been together since forever and a half. Even these past two years in high school have been—weird."

"I hear ya, dude." Kiba sighed, putting both hands behind his head and leaning back on his chair again. "Getting detention wasn't fun anymore, it was just boring. And the pranks were never as good without him."

"Can we not talk about this?" the raven whispered. "I just—it's hard enough as it is, okay? I don't need you reminding me of it every day."

"Hey, you're the one who goes to his place all the time, dude. Neji's pissed you bailed on us on Saturday."

"His mum wanted me to help stretch his muscles."

"Sasuke, Neji booked us those concert tickets _months_ ago. He ended up having to invite that fuckin' suicidal dumbass, Gaara. His dad forced him. Neji's gonna beat your ass next time you guys run into each other."

"Naruto was his friend, too."

"Dude, you're acting like a chick." Kiba sighed. "Naruto's _not_ waking up. Get over it, and move on. When are you gonna get yourself a girlfriend? I hear Ino's been eying you."

"Yeah, cause I really want to date the most popular girl in school." He rolled his eyes. "We're only good friends because of Naruto, and I'm not willing to use that to get some from her. I'm good like this. I have my routine, and even if seeing him like that depresses me—it's nice. I'm not giving up on him."

"Dude, why don't you just _live_ at the Uzumaki's?" Kiba opened his book as their teacher, Hatake Kakashi, walked into the class. "You already spend almost all of your time there, anyway."

Sasuke ignored him.

* * *

"Naruto? Naruto!" The blond groaned and struggled to open his eyes, his vision swimming for a few seconds before clearing. He looked up into worried green eyes, the rosette sighing, relieved, as he looked around. "Are you okay?" 

"What hit me?" he groaned, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.

"The ground."

"That was one hell of a fall." Sai mumbled, looking up the side of the cliff. He couldn't even see the top. "It's a miracle you survived."

"Yeah." He grunted and stood, still rubbing his head. "Where's Kakashi?"

"We don't know." Sai replied. "We went back looking for the two of you, but we didn't find him. Hell, we wouldn't have found you if we hadn't sensed your chakra. Good thing Kyuubi has a strong survival instinct."

"Yeah." Naruto muttered. "Yippee."

"So, now what?" Sakura asked as she stood and dusted off her skirt. "We can't just keep going without Kakashi."

"They probably brought him back. Torture, you know? It reveals many things." Sai said, looking around. "I don't think Kakashi would ever talk, but you never know. I hear they've got this guy who makes Ibiki look like a kitten."

"That's not possible." Sakura insisted, not believing the ANBU. _Nobody_ was better than Morino Ibiki. It was just inconceivable.

"Ladies, can we start walking?" Naruto growled, already having started on his way. He didn't feel like wasting chakra to get back up the cliffside. For all they knew, the Sound nin were waiting for them at the top.

"Do you think maybe we should forget it?" Sakura appeared beside Naruto, Sai on his other side. "I mean, even if Kakashi got away, don't you think Orochimaru will be able to figure out we're headed for Sound? I mean, this is the only road that leads straight there."

"So what if he knows?" Naruto demanded. "We're still going to go. What's he going to do? Increase security? Put everyone on their guard? So what, it won't help him."

"I don't know, but personally, I find it hard to take on more than five people at a time. How about you, Sakura? Five?"

The kunoichi gave him a look and he smiled pleasantly before looking ahead again. He wasn't encouraging Naruto, but he wasn't necessarily telling him it was a bad idea. Hell, Naruto wouldn't listen to them, anyway, and they both knew it, so Sai figured there was no point in arguing. He would just follow Naruto along like a good friend and make sure he didn't get himself killed.

Sakura sighed. "Naruto—"

"No." he interrupted as the three of them walked slowly.

"But—"

"_No_." he repeated, turning to glare at her. "We're _not_ going back to Konoha. What'll we do? Get backup? Wait a little longer? Nobody cares about Sasuke anymore. Nobody but me. We won't _get_ backup, and if we go back without Kakashi, Tsunade won't let me come after Sasuke again."

"But think about it." Sakura moved to stand in front of Naruto, her hands on his shoulders. "Kakashi was nowhere to be found! What if something's happened to him? What if—what if he's dead?" she whispered.

"Oh, ye of little faith." All of them looked up to see Kakashi sitting on a small ledge, _Icha Icha Paradise_ open and in his face. "I've been waiting for you guys for a while."

"Bastard!" Sakura threw at kunai at him, which he caught in his free hand, finishing the page he was on before snapping the book shut and looking down at them. "We were really worried! Why didn't you come meet us?!"

"Well, you were heading in this direction, anyway." He shrugged and smiled before jumping down, tucking his book away. "Miss me?"

"Bastard!" Sakura went to punch him, but the man ducked, knowing it would hurt since she was so mad at him. Her super-strength was frightening, even to a great shinobi like himself.

"Shall we keep moving?" he asked, Naruto already having pushed past him. "I mean, unless you're scared, Naruto."

"Stop being a prick and hurry up." Naruto snapped, not even bothering to look over his shoulder.

"That boy gets more and more like Sasuke every day." The Jounin sighed as the other three followed him.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" 

"No!"

"And now?"

"No!"

"How about now?"

"_No!"_

"Sakura, just ignore him, you're encouraging him by replying." Kakashi stated in a bored fashion, his hands shoved in his pockets as he walked along beside Naruto. The blond had tuned the three of them out—especially Sai.

"Don't you feel like this is making time go by faster, though?" Sai asked pleasantly. "Just think, as soon as I ask and you say yes, we'll be closer and I won't ask anymore. Are we there yet?"

"Yes."

"Don't lie, Sakura."

Kakashi knew the only reason the ANBU wasn't pinching Sakura's cheeks was because he wanted to keep his arms attached to the rest of his body.

Naruto continued to ignore them as he walked before he suddenly paused, frowning. He could hear something. It sounded like Sasuke. He scanned the area, narrowing his eyes as the other three stopped beside him.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked.

"I can hear Sasuke."

"I don't hear anything." Sakura whispered as they all became silent, listening. He could hear Sasuke talking about Neji, which caused the blond to worry about the Hyuuga clan. They had to separate Orochimaru and Sasuke _now_.

"He's talking about the Hyuuga clan." Sai agreed as they struggled to pinpoint the location. "Do you think Orochimaru knows we're here?"

"Hard to say." Kakashi crouched. "But we're obviously close to Sound's border. We should find shelter and attack at nightfall."

"Agreed."

They all retreated silently, Kakashi and Sai taking the lead while Sakura lingered back with Naruto. She was wringing her hands together as she walked behind the blond, wanting so desperately to talk to him, but at the same time, scared to. She finally decided to tell him. They were best friends, now. Brother and sister.

"Naruto."

"If you're going to ask me to go home, Sakura, the answer is no."

"No, it's-it's not that." The girl sighed. "You know how—Sasuke didn't kill you that one time when you guys fought? How he could have while you were unconscious, but he just walked away?"

"He said it was a whim." Naruto reminded, talking about their last encounter with the Uchiha back when he was still Sasuke.

"Yes, well—that's what the _new_ Sasuke said. But—do you know why the _old_ one walked away? Do you know what he said to me before he'd decided for sure that he was leaving?"

"What?" Naruto whispered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"He told me—that he was mad. He was mad that you were stronger than him because it meant he couldn't protect you anymore."

Naruto stopped at these words, his feet planted on the ground firmly as Sakura stopped as well, turning to him.

"He said that?" Naruto whispered.

"Yes, he did. He said—that ever since the fight with Haku, you were the person he'd chosen as his 'special person.' He was going to keep improving; get stronger. All for you, and the sake of protecting you. So when you started surpassing him, I think he felt like a failure, or something. Like maybe his whole purpose was wasted, so he went back to his original goal: Itachi." She sighed, running a hand through her pink hair, looking ahead at Sai and Kakashi, who had all but disappeared. "This might be a long shot, since I don't pretend to know what goes on in Sasuke's head, but at the Valley of the End, he could've killed you to get the Mangekyou."

"Because I was his most important person." Naruto whispered.

"I think that his feelings of protectiveness towards you were stronger than his desire to kill Itachi."

"Yeah, well, until we get him back, I guess we'll never know."

Naruto started walking again, following Kakashi and Sai. Sakura watched his retreating back sadly as she felt a drop of water land on her head. She looked up at the dark clouds that had gathered.

"The rain washes away all pains." she whispered as it started raining. "All except yours, Naruto. For you, the rain reminds you of it."

And it was true. Because as the rain soaked into his clothes, his mind thought back to that final fight with Sasuke, where he hadn't been able to save him from his own demons.

* * *

Sasuke let his schoolbag drop heavily to the ground as he sighed, wandering into the kitchen where his mother stood cooking dinner. He walked up beside her and kissed her cheek, the woman starting before smiling at him. 

"Hey, honey. How was school?"

"You know." He shrugged as he walked to the fridge and opened it. "School."

"Hey, get out of there, we'll be eating dinner as soon as your father gets home." she insisted as she stirred something that looked like meat sauce.

"Well, he's not home yet, is he?" Sasuke grinned as he stuffed the end of a tuna roll into his mouth. Uchiha Mikoto rolled her eyes at her son.

"Cheeky brat. You're becoming more and more like your brother."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Both turned to the door as Itachi walked in, smirking slightly before going to his mother's side and kissing her cheek.

"It has its ups and downs." Mikoto teased as Itachi headed for the fridge and pulled out some orange juice. "Itachi, will you take that roll away from your brother, please."

Sasuke let out a sound of protest as Itachi grabbed the bread right from between his teeth, the younger brother holding butter and barbecue sauce in either hand, thus unable to counter it.

"You'll ruin your dinner." Itachi insisted before biting into the roll himself and wandering towards the table.

Sasuke swallowed before talking, chasing after his brother. "What about _you_? That's the last one, give it here!" He made to bite the bun, but Itachi pulled it out of reach.

"I'm older, I should eat it."

"That's not fair, give it! You stole it from me!"

Itachi continued to push Sasuke away with his elbow, since he still held the orange juice in his hand, and held the tuna roll up over his head so that Sasuke couldn't bite into it.

The bun was suddenly snatched from his hand, both brothers giving a shout as they spun around, Uchiha Fugaku taking a bite out of it before saluting them with it.

"Thanks."

"Dad!" Sasuke whined before falling into his chair with a pout and putting the butter and barbecue sauce uselessly on the table.

"You'll ruin your dinner." Fugaku insisted as he gave his wife a kiss on the forehead. "How was your day?"

"Good, until the two terrors came home." She motioned Itachi and Sasuke with her head.

"Hey, terrors or not, we're _your_ terrors, and you love us." Sasuke insisted as Itachi placed a glass on the table. He poured orange juice into it and the second he put the container down to grab the glass, Sasuke yanked it away and downed it.

"Brat." Itachi muttered as Sasuke handed the empty glass back, wiping his mouth across the back of his hand.

"Old man."

"Twit."

"Jerk."

"Bastard."

"Asshole."

"Hey, hey." Mikoto turned around. "Language!"

"Your mother is right." Fugaku glared at Sasuke. "I am appalled! Three sets of insults, and neither of you used the word 'fuck'."

"Sorry." Sasuke sighed. "I was thinking of dick, next."

"I had cock-sucker, myself." Itachi agreed.

"Boys!" Mikoto exclaimed, sighing as she picked up two plates and headed for the table. "Fugaku, don't encourage them, please."

"Sorry."

Sasuke grinned as she put one plate down in front of him, and the other in front of Itachi.

"Oh, spaghetti." the youngest Uchiha said happily.

"See? Aren't you glad you didn't ruin your dinner?" Mikoto sat down as Fugaku headed for the table with the two final plates.

"Are you serious? Sasuke's a freakin' garborator. You could feed him a horse at five and he'll still be hungry enough for dinner at six." Itachi took a bite of his dinner as Sasuke grinned.

"What a family." Mikoto sighed, exasperated. "There's too much testosterone, you all gang up on me too much."

"Aw, it's only because you're worth it, honey." Fugaku kissed her temple as they continued eating.

"So, Sasuke, how's Naruto doing?"

Sasuke's fork froze, Itachi and Fugaku looking at him. He put his fork down and cleared his throat, avoiding their eyes.

"He's good. Excuse me." He stood up and headed for the door.

"Sweetheart—" Mikoto started to stand but Itachi held out his hand, standing instead.

"I'll go." Itachi walked out into the living room, Sasuke sitting on the couch with his hands folded together and pressed against his lips. The elder Uchiha sat down beside him, neither saying a word for a few seconds.

"She just asks because she cares."

Sasuke scoffed. "He's been in a coma for two years, don't you think that if he suddenly woke up, you would know?"

"Naruto is a hard topic to bring up with you, and you know how private the two of us are. She just wants to make sure you're doing all right."

Sasuke ran his hands through his hair, letting them remain in his dark locks as he looked down at the floor. "It should've been me."

"Sasuke." The tone was one of warning. Itachi hated it when Sasuke got like this.

"No, it should have been me! Naruto had—everything. A girlfriend, good grades, popular... He was happy. I just—wasn't. No one would've missed me."

"Naruto would have." Itachi countered. "He wouldn't have been all those things anymore. I'm sorry this happened at all, but you're going to have to just have faith and hope he wakes up."

Itachi patted his brother's shoulder before standing to head back into the kitchen. Sasuke called out to him, Itachi stopping and turning back to him.

"Do you think—he's happy? You know, wherever he is?"

Itachi shrugged. "Who knows? But I guarantee that _when_ he comes back, he'll be happier than he ever was there."

Itachi returned to the kitchen. Sasuke went to his room.

* * *

Naruto sat at the entrance of the large cave they'd decided to take shelter in. The other three had opted to rest before night fell, but Naruto couldn't sleep, so he decided to keep watch. 

He rarely slept anymore, his mind always uneasy. He had a weird fear that one day, he'd fall asleep and not wake up. That his whole world would suddenly disappear and he would have no way of getting back.

It had been a feeling he'd started getting soon after having seen Sasuke for that brief moment years ago. That day, Sasuke had tried to kill him, and would have succeeded had Sai not intervened. Ever since then, he kept hearing the raven's voice in his head, as if haunting him. Once, he'd woken up in bed in a cold sweat, positive that Sasuke had been near him and touching his face.

As Naruto leaned back against the wall with a sigh, he let his mind wander towards his ex-teammate, as it often did. He thought about everything they'd gone through, and all the emotions they'd evoked in one another. Naruto didn't know about Sasuke, but he'd come to realize a few things about his feelings.

Sasuke was his most precious person—just as Sakura claimed Naruto was Sasuke's—and the raven was the only person to truly acknowledge him. Be his friend. His rival. Naruto realized he loved the Uchiha. He'd tried to deny it at first while he was off with Jiraiya for those two and a half years. He'd insisted that the sick feeling in his stomach that appeared every time he thought of Sasuke was just grief. It was anger and sadness. But the more he thought about it—the more he realized that wasn't the case. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, he couldn't.

Naruto was in love with the teme.

It was almost sickening even thinking about it—how he could love someone who'd caused him so much pain. The fact that Sasuke was a guy, just like him, didn't really even occur to him. Love was blind, and more than one shinobi and kunoichi in Konoha were in love with others of the same sex. It wasn't frowned upon, it was actually fairly common, and thus, accepted.

It was just the fact that it was _Sasuke_ that bothered Naruto. Sasuke, who had hurt him. Sasuke, who had almost killed him. Twice. It just—was stupid. It was imbecilic for him to love someone who did nothing but cause him pain. Then again, Naruto had never been known to be smart.

Something shifting behind him snapped him out of his reverie, the blond turning to watch Sai slowly make his way to the front of the cave. The other sat down beside Naruto with a deep sigh, looking out at the darkening sky.

"Can I ask you something?" Naruto turned to Sai before nodding. "Why do you believe in him so much?" The ANBU turned to look at the blond. "You've never given up on him, ever. You truly believe that he'll come back once he's separated from Orochimaru."

"I guess..." Naruto trailed off before smiling slightly. "It's because of what he said that one time."

"_I want to avenge my clan."_

Sai cocked an eyebrow. "I don't get it."

Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. "I know, it seems weird, but—well, he hasn't done that yet. Orochimaru broke his promise. That, and just—the way Sasuke changed while with Team Seven. He was so closed off and reserved when we first started training, but after that, we all just—evolved. He became more open and all of us started caring about one another more. It's like when Gaara went Shukkaku while in Konoha and he threatened to kill Sakura. Sasuke and I jumped into action. Sasuke was concerned about her, _and_ me, and that's why he opened the seal. He wanted to protect us. The Sasuke I'd met on that first day wouldn't have risked his life for an annoying pink-haired fangirl and a stupid, dead-last Kyuubi container."

Sai still didn't get it, but then again, he couldn't claim to ever have understood the blond. He just knew that Naruto had a way about him that sucked people in. He was just like that.

"I have another question for you." Naruto nodded again as his eyes scanned the ever-darkening sky. "If it came down to you having to choose between saving Sasuke, and saving me, who would you choose?"

Naruto had to smile. _Baikan Sai, as blunt as ever._

"In what way?" he asked.

"If Sasuke was about to kill me, and the only way to stop him was to kill him—would you do it, or let me die?" Sai pinned Naruto with an intense gaze. The blond ran a hand through unruly locks.

"Honestly—I don't know."

Sai was a little hurt, but he had to admit, he'd known it was coming. "I'd choose you over Sasuke."

"It's not the same choice." Naruto smiled slightly. "It's like me being able to choose between you and Orochimaru; of course I'd choose you. But for me to choose between you and Sasuke—it'd be like asking you to choose between Sakura and me."

"Still you." Sai said immediately. "Sakura hits me too much." He grinned at Naruto.

"Okay, then what about your brother and me?"

The grin slowly faded from Sai's face as he turned away and tried to think about it. His brother versus his best friend. Who _would_ he choose to save?

"I don't know." he finally whispered.

"That's what it's like for me when you ask you or Sasuke." Naruto smiled.

They both heard something behind them and turned to see Kakashi and Sakura emerging from the depths of the cave.

"Night's fallen. It's time."

Naruto and Sai nodded before standing.

* * *

(1) I have no idea if this is possible, but for the sake of my fic, it is XD haha.

* * *

**AN: Hey ho! So, now I can explain the OOCness. OOCness because the people Naruto perceives as his friends in his coma state are NOT the same people he knows them as in real life... enough said. **

**I can also clear a few things up, to people who are still confused. Naruto is in a coma, thus everything we see from Naruto's POV is his coma-enduced dream, which I've made the Narutoverse (Ninjas and so on) and everything seen from Sasuke's POV is the _real_ world, where there's the unconscious Naruto. So when it jumps back and forth between the ninja world and school, it's because it's jumping between Naruto's dream and the real world, and it's showing people's reactions to Naruto's coma. I hope that helped explain things to people who are still confused. **


	3. Of Sleep

**Disclaimer: I ordered a Big Brother for Kishimoto so that he would learn to share, since I assumed that he was so greedy because he's an only child, but he ended up getting Big Brother arrested and I need to post bail :( Kishimoto isn't very shareful when it comes to Naruto characters :(**

**(Shareful should SO be a word! lol)**

**Also, HAPPY CANADA DAY XD**

* * *

Naruto snuck up behind a sentry Sound nin, slitting his throat without a sound and catching the dead body before it hit the ground. He jumped back into the trees with it, putting it down silently in the woods before seeking out his next target. 

Even though this was Naruto, he _was_ still an ANBU Captain, and he hadn't attained that title for nothing. As loud and brash as he was, he could also be silent and stealthy. The teenager could even sneak up on Kakashi, something practically everyone in Konoha was amazed by. It also scared them, though, because it meant he could carry out his pranks more stealthily, but luckily for the village, the blond had long since put those days of pranking behind him.

Sai appeared beside him with a nod. The whole west half of the village was clear. Sakura and Kakashi had the east side, but Naruto didn't need to wait for them to go in.

"I'm going."

"I've got your back." Sai crouched behind Naruto. The two of them shot silently from the trees, their backs pressing against the walls on either side of the gate. Sai pushed the gate lightly with one hand, and they both heard the strain of paper. They shared a look. Exploding tag.

_All right, plan B._ Naruto looked up, Sai following his gaze. They knew using chakra to scale the wall would alert the village of their presence. _If only I could contact Kakashi and ask him for a distract—_

A loud explosion sounded from the other side of the village, Naruto laughing slightly. Kakashi was always one step ahead of him. He turned to Sai, nodding, and the two of them scaled the wall at top speed, using the smallest amount of chakra possible. They jumped down onto the other side, hearing shouts of 'multiple enemies'. Naruto could only assume Kakashi had used Kage Bunshin.

Sai motioned a direction and Naruto nodded, the two of them blending in amidst the chaos. They were both ANBU, and had trained much longer than any of the Sound shinobi who would try to stop them. Any they encountered barely had time to open their mouths before Sai's sword or Naruto's kunai sliced through the muscles in their throats. It took them under a minute to get to Orochimaru's room.

_He'll know we're here for him, _Naruto thought as he put his bloody kunai away, since he'd need both hands for this. _But this is our one shot, I'm not turning back now._

"You sure about this?" Sai breathed in the quietest of whispers.

"Yeah."

Naruto and Sai exploded into Orochimaru's room, the raven jumping in front of his friend to protect him while the blond performed the first seals of the jutsu. The room was empty, Sai lowering his bloody sword. Just as he opened his mouth to inquire what to do next, a blazing chidori appeared from above, Sai barely avoiding it. Locating the Sannin, Naruto started again.

His hands were shaking as he performed the seals; sweat trickled down the side of his face as he concentrated. His mind kept going back to Sai, worrying he was going to get hurt as he dodged Orochimaru. Then, he would think back to his friend's question, which only served to distract him further.

The man in his best friend's body didn't even seem to know he was there.

_Please work! Please work! Please, please, __**please**_ He performed the last seal, clenched his eyes shut, and poured all the chakra he could towards the Sannin.

It took less than a second. The jutsu hit Sasuke's back and the raven screamed before falling heavily to the ground. A dark mist streamed from Sasuke's mouth and shot towards Naruto. The blond's eyes were open by now, and he slammed his hands together, a shield of chakra appearing before him. The mist—Orochimaru's tainted soul—smashed into it before turning and hurrying back to Sasuke's body. Sai had grabbed the unconscious form and was just about to leap out the window.

"Sai, move!" Naruto hollered.

The ANBU didn't even turn to look at why Naruto was calling out to him. He dropped Sasuke and leapt to the side, Orochimaru's soul flying out the open window. Naruto ran to it quickly and performed another seal as he followed the soul with his eyes, watching as it desperately tried to find another body to latch on to.

The doors to the room slammed open, Sai turning with his sword drawn to protect Naruto, but the doors were slammed again almost instantly, Kakashi and Sakura barricading it.

"Aren't you done yet?!" Sakura screamed.

"This is harder than it looks." Naruto grunted. He had Orochimaru's soul trapped in a huge chakra box, and was struggling to make it smaller so he could bring it back into the room and seal it into a scroll.

The door was slammed into from outside, Kakashi and Sakura pushed away slightly due to the force of the blow, slamming their backs into the door again.

"We're short on time here, Uzumaki!" Kakashi hollered as Sai joined them by the door, leaning against it as well.

"Almost got it." Naruto grunted as he brought the chakra box and soul towards himself. He focussed on holding the box as he let his hands separate and grabbed a special scroll from his Jounin vest. The chakra around Orochimaru's soul gave way and the ANBU captain slammed the scroll into the mist, trapping it inside the paper before biting his thumb and smearing his blood along the length of the scroll. He let out a cry of pain as the hand holding the scroll was burned, dropping the paper out of reflex. It rolled itself back up, a seal appearing on the front.

"Done?!" Kakashi grunted.

Naruto snapped out of his stupor, looking at the door with a decent-sized crack in it, and then snatched up the scroll, tucking it back into his vest.

"Yeah, let's go!" He bent down beside Sasuke, pulling the raven over his shoulder before leaning out the window. Surprisingly, the coast was clear.

"Let's go!" Naruto jumped.

* * *

Sasuke's breathing came loud and fast as he ran for all he was worth. He glanced over his shoulder on occasion, only to duck as shots were fired at him. 

"You've got nowhere left to hide, little brother." Itachi's voice held a hint of madness to it as he followed his brother, his gun firing at Sasuke whenever he had a clear shot.

"Fuck you, Itachi!" Sasuke slammed into a wall as he turned a corner, cursing colourfully. That had slowed him down. Fuck. _Fuck!_ He needed a weapon, one better than the stupid knife he had!

He turned another corner and skidded to a halt. A dead end. _Shit!_ He turned to look at the barrel of the gun that was coming closer and closer, the run having slowed to a walk. In a last desperate attempt, Sasuke hurled his knife, the weapon easily side-stepped.

"Game over." The gun was aimed at his head.

"No, wait!"

BANG.

"_Game over, player two wins."_

"Aw, you bastard!" Sasuke threw his controller over his shoulder at his brother, the older boy just smirking as he dodged it. "You never let me get a decent weapon! It's not fair, you know where all the good ones are and you go for them right off the bat!"

"It's not my fault you suck."

"Hey, I do not suck." Sasuke pointed his finger at Itachi. "You just cheat."

"I have no reason to cheat. You suck."

Before Sasuke could come up with a retort, his brother's door opened and his mother poked her head into the room.

"Honey? Minako's on the phone for you."

Sasuke brutally crushed the hope that was rising in his chest, nodding curtly and standing. He walked out of Itachi's room and snatched the phone off the table between his room and Itachi's, putting it to his ear.

"Hey, Mrs. Uzumaki."

"Hello, Sasuke. I hope I'm not bothering you. Sorry for calling so late." Sasuke glanced at the clock. It was only ten, no big deal.

"No, it's fine. What's up?"

"Well, Naruto's sporting quite a bit of stubble." She let out a small laugh. "I was wondering—"

"Sure thing." Sasuke interrupted her. "I can come by tomorrow."

"Oh, I don't want to bother you with it on the weekend, I was wondering if you'd be up for it when you came over on Monday."

"It's not a problem, I can come tomorrow."

"Sasuke, you're an angel. Thank you."

"My pleasure. Have a good night, Mrs. Uzumaki."

"Good night, Sasuke."

The raven hung up the phone before picking it up again and dialling Kiba's cell phone number. The brunette answered after four or five rings.

"Dude! Sasuke! I am _so _psyched for tomorrow, did you call to share my excitement?!"

"Um, actually..." Sasuke had the decency to sound sheepish. "About tomo—"

"No! No fucking way, Uchiha, you are _not_ bailing out!"

"Naruto's mum called!"

"Jesus _Christ_, dude! Fuck! Do you really think Naruto wants you to not have a life?! As much as we hate her, Sakura's his girlfriend, let _her_ drop everything for him!"

"He's my best friend!" Sasuke hollered.

There was silence on the other end before Kiba sighed. "Sasuke, it's not that I don't care about Naruto, I do, you _know_ I do. I visit him once a week, but I don't _live_ there, dammit." He paused, both silent for a few seconds. "I'm gonna call Neji. I'll talk to you later."

Kiba hung up before Sasuke could say anything. He sighed and hung up the phone as well.

"Honey." He noticed his mother out of the corner of his eye. He didn't want to hear what she had to say.

"I'm going to bed." He hurried past her.

"Honey, it's only ten."

He closed his door and locked it. With a sigh, he sank to the ground, leaning his back against the door. He, himself, didn't even know why he cared so much about Naruto. After all, Sai was the blond's oldest childhood friend and he only visited Naruto twice a week. Sasuke figured it was because he'd grown up with Naruto. They were _always_ together. People used to always call Sasuke looking for Naruto, since the blond didn't have a cell phone and the two of them were always together.

"Fuck." he whispered into the darkness, hitting the back of his head against the door. "Wake up, dumbass."

* * *

"Wake up, bastard." Naruto refrained from hitting Sasuke, shaking him instead. 

"Naruto, you're not helping." Sakura pushed him away, keeping her distance from Sasuke. The blond noticed her eyes starting to water as she looked at the raven, but she didn't step closer.

"How long until he wakes up?" Sai asked as he sat the other boy up and proceeded to tie his hands behind his back with special chakra-infused ropes.

"I don't know. In case you've all forgotten, I've never done this before." Naruto whispered, his hand going back to the scroll in his vest to make sure it was still there.

Sakura took his hand, pulling it towards herself and looking down at his burn. It wasn't healing, which was weird, considering he had the Kyuubi inside of him. Sakura let healing chakra flow from her hands into Naruto's, but nothing was happening. She frowned, confused, but Naruto just pulled his hand free.

"Everything comes with a price, Sakura-chan. This was a small price to pay." He smiled.

Sakura wanted to slap him for pretending to be so brave, but she just grabbed his hand again and carefully wrapped it in some gauze. Naruto watched her as she worked, her brows furrowed, as if she was trying to make sure she didn't hurt him. She finished and looked up at Naruto with a smile.

"Hello, Sasuke." Both turned to the raven as they heard Kakashi's lazy drawl. The raven was looking around the clearing they'd stopped to rest in. "You look confused."

Sasuke's eyes scanned the people present before locking on Naruto. The blond just stared back defiantly. As long as Sasuke's eyes didn't bleed red, staring at him was fine.

"You took him out." His voice sounded deeper, lower; it was different than the last time any of them had heard it. Then again, Naruto and Sai's voices had also lowered, so fair's fair.

"I did." Naruto patted his vest pocket—he purposefully patted the wrong one, just in case.

"We're bringing you back to Konoha." Sai ruffled the Uchiha's hair, but the raven kept his eyes locked with Naruto's, ignoring the ANBU's mocking smile. "Aren't you excited to be going home?"

"Itachi is still alive." Sasuke said; a statement, not a question.

"Yup." Kakashi smiled at Sasuke, his visible eye curving. "Orochimaru betrayed you. Not surprising, but I thought I'd let you know."

Sasuke said nothing after that, and the team of four made their way home with their prisoner. Naruto kept glancing over at Sasuke, only to find the other's dark eyes focussed on him. It was unnerving, but Naruto was too happy to have him back to really care. He gave Sasuke one of his biggest grins the last time he looked at him, and was rewarded with an eyebrow raise.

The blond smiled privately to himself at this, because it was something the _old_ Sasuke would have done.

"We should take a break. Rest." Sai said to Kakashi, but the silver-haired man shook his head.

"No, I don't want to stop while we're with Sasuke. We're going to continue forth until we reach Konoha."

Sai shot a glance at Naruto before leaning closer to Kakashi. "Naruto's drained of chakra, and he didn't sleep before we went into Sound. With Sasuke back on top of that—he must be exhausted."

Kakashi turned to look at the blond. He _did_ look a bit pale and he was cradling his bandaged hand against his chest. He looked back at Sai, who nodded. Kakashi sighed.

"Naruto." The blond looked up from having been staring at his feet, and turned to Kakashi. "You and Sakura take a break. We'll keep going with Sasuke. You guys can catch up later."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but Sakura spoke first. "Understood. I'll make sure he rests."

"What? But I'm fine!"

"Don't make me knock you out." Sakura glared. Naruto winced at the thought and then finally slowed his steps, Sakura stopping with him.

"We'll catch up." the girl called as Sai and Kakashi shifted so they were on either side of Sasuke.

The Uchiha turned slightly to look at Naruto one last time before disappearing through the trees. Naruto fell flat on his back and fell asleep.

* * *

Sasuke rang the doorbell to Naruto's house, Minako opening the door with a smile. 

"Hello, Sasuke. You just missed Sakura, she left two minutes ago."

The raven refrained from jumping with joy, simply smiling at the woman as she moved aside to let him in. She told him she had to get something before disappearing, Sasuke removing his shoes. He made his way slowly up the stairs and turned towards Naruto's room. His eyes widened in horror. Naruto's door was open.

"Sakura, you _idiot_!" He bolted for the room, slamming inside as his eyes scanned the area. They landed on the monster. "Kyuubi! Out!" He ran at the cat who was chewing on Naruto's G-tube, the red-furred animal jumping off the bed and running out the door. Sasuke ran to the bed to inspect the damage on the tube, sighing as he noticed there was none. He'd caught the beast in time.

Kyuubi was the Uzumaki's cat, who happened to love chewing on plastic. Since the cat favoured Naruto, it would be mean to stop him from entering the blond's room, but he could only be there when someone else was present. Whenever no one was watching, the cat chewed on the various tubes connected to Naruto. Sasuke was going to _kill_ Sakura for forgetting that!

"What happened?" Minako appeared at the door, looking alarmed.

"Sakura forgot to close the door." Sasuke grumbled as he inspected the machinery for any more problems, just in case. "Kyuubi was in here."

"Is he okay?" The blond's mother rushed to Naruto's side.

"I think so." the raven muttered, continuing to check for any problems.

"Oh, thank Goodness." Minako ran her hand lovingly through the blond's hair and kissed his forehead. "You're okay, baby."

Sasuke was glad, but he was also insanely pissed off. Sakura knew better, Naruto could've _died_! If one of his machines had suddenly stopped or something, Sasuke would have been put to death after people saw what he did to Sakura's body. He was _definitely_ going to have a word with her later.

"Oh, that stupid cat. I'm gonna lock him in the basement." Minako started to leave, but then turned. "Oh, Sasuke, I put the shaving cream and razor on the counter in the bathroom."

"Thanks, I'll get them." he said as he moved to the door as well. He closed it behind himself as he headed for the bathroom, Minako chasing Kyuubi down the stairs.

Sasuke entered the bathroom, his eyes falling on the things he needed, sitting peacefully on the counter. He sighed, bracing his hands on the cool marble, looking down at the razor and shaving cream. Maybe Kiba was right. Maybe he was just being stupid always coming to see Naruto, since it was clear he wasn't going to be waking up any time soon.

"I know that look." Sasuke straightened right away, turning to the figure standing in the doorway. "I get it, sometimes. But then I remember who Naruto is. He'll come back."

"I don't mean to—"

"Sasuke." Uzumaki Arashi smiled at him, shaking his head. "You come here every day. You talk to him all the time. If you want to come less often, no one will blame you. I find it harder to see him, to be honest."

Sasuke felt bad, now. He didn't want to lose hope, and he didn't want Arashi to think he was losing hope. He knew that Naruto's mother relied on him, in a way. The day he stopped coming, she would probably lose all hope. Sasuke couldn't do that to her. And he wouldn't do that to them. So, he did what he thought would be best in this situation.

He lied.

"Mr. Uzumaki, you mistake me. The look was one of exasperation because I could just imagine him waking up and ordering me to finish shaving him."

Arashi laughed, Sasuke smiling. "Yeah, that sounds like something Naruto would do. You can just let him grow a beard."

"No thanks." Sasuke grinned. "Then he'll have an even _better_ reason to act like a caveman."

The older man laughed again, walking away while repeating Sasuke's words before dissolving into laughter again. Sasuke just smirked and wandered back to Naruto's room, forcing himself not to give up on Naruto.

There was a small basin of water on the desk beside Naruto's bed, and Sasuke figured the blond's mother had put it there while he was talking to Arashi.

The raven put the razor and shaving cream down, wanting to stretch Naruto's muscles for a bit, first. He walked to the end of the bed and pushed the covers up to the blond's waist before grabbing his left leg and bending it at the knee. He would admit to hating this, but he did it as often as possible, anyway. To him, he felt like it would make a difference in Naruto's recovery time when—if—he woke up.

He bent and straightened Naruto's leg twenty times before moving to his other leg. After finishing that, he pulled the covers back down before going to his arms and doing the same thing, bending them at the elbows. With that done, he stared at Naruto for a few seconds before checking his watch. Time to start shaving him.

He always found this awkward, but it was the easiest way to shave him. So, he threw one leg over Naruto's hips, and settled himself, half on Naruto's stomach, half on his groin, being careful of the blond's catheter.

"If you're dreaming of something kinky, keep it in your head. I don't want you going hard while I'm sitting on you, I might get the wrong idea." He smirked. Naruto remained the same, but Sasuke just pretended Naruto had answered.

The raven reached for the basin, wetting his hands before running them over Naruto's face. He then grabbed the shaving cream and spread a bit onto the bottom half of the blond's face before using the basin to get the white foam off his hands.

"Okay, moron. Time to get you looking more civilised." Sasuke grinned as he shifted and brought the razor close to Naruto's face.

The blond's hand twitched.

Sasuke almost dropped the razor, eyes wide. Could it be?!

"Mrs. Uzumaki!" he screamed, his eyes still on Naruto's hand. "Mrs. Uzumaki!"

"What is it?" It was the blond's father who appeared first, looking concerned. Sasuke just pointed at Naruto's hand, too scared to move off the blond.

"His hand..."

"What happened?!" Minako sounded hysterical. She was probably assuming the worst.

"His hand..."

"What about his hand?!" Aashi demanded, sick of Sasuke just repeating the same thing.

"His hand moved."

"It what?!" Both parents were beside the bed at once. "Naruto? Sweetie, can you hear me?"

"Naruto?" Arashi had so much hope on his face, Sasuke wished he hadn't said anything.

"What did you do? Do it again!" Sasuke was shocked at the command, trying to think of what he'd done. _I didn't do anything... I just—I leaned forward to start shaving him._ He figured there was nothing to lose, so he leaned forward again, shifting slightly.

Naruto's hand twitched again.

Minako screamed and ran for the phone. Arashi just grabbed Naruto's hand, biting his bottom lip hard. Sasuke wondered if maybe Naruto really _would_ wake up and demand he continue to shave him. Sasuke figured he'd beat him to the punch, leaning forward more and running the blade across the blond's cheek.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke didn't look at Arashi. He just continued to shave as he answered.

"Well, I don't want Nana coming over and seeing him like this, she'd never let him live it down." Sasuke insisted, then lowered his voice. "Besides, he'd make me finish the job, anyway."

"I guess." Sasuke could tell the older man was trying not to cry. Sasuke himself was clenching his jaw to stop himself.

"She's on her way." Minako reappeared in the room. "Sweetie, you don't have to finish."

"No, it's okay." Sasuke replied, continuing. "I want to finish."

They sat in silence as Sasuke worked, and waited for Tsunade Sannin to come.

Tsunade was Minako's mother, but the reason she'd been called was because she was also a famous doctor. She'd dropped everything at the hospital just because her grandson's hand twitched. She was going to determine whether or not Naruto would be waking up soon. Minako had considered calling her father, Jiraiya, but she didn't want to tell too many people in case it was a false alarm.

Sasuke was just wiping the excess shaving cream off Naruto's face when Tsunade slammed through the door, her friend Shigure Shizune right behind her. Shizune was a special kind of therapist who helped people in hospitals who just had a life-changing experience, like amputee patients and coma patients. Naruto was going to be confused about where the time went when he woke up, so he was going to need Shizune.

"Sasuke, off." she ordered, the raven hurrying to obey her.

Sasuke, Kiba and Sai were the only people other than Naruto who could call Tsunade 'Nana'. She regarded the three of them as family, so she had no problem with them acknowledging her as family, too. She didn't let anyone else call her that, though. Sakura had tried once and Tsunade had flipped out at her, calling her a suck-up and insisting Naruto was too good for her. That was the day Sasuke decided he loved Tsunade.

"Please wait outside." Tsunade said, Sasuke and Naruto's parents leaving the room, despite not wanting to. Sasuke paced back and forth in front of the door as Minako held her hands tightly together, as if silently praying. Sasuke guessed she probably was. Two years was a long time.

Arashi, himself, went downstairs to get coffee. Sasuke knew the man needed to do something when he was stressed. He returned minutes later, handing a coffee to Minako, and another to Sasuke, having juggled three cups. Sasuke hated coffee, but he sipped at the black liquid, anyway, for lack of something better to do. The three stood in silence, sipping their coffees and waiting, minute after agonizing minute.

Finally—after hours, days, months, _years_—the door opened, and Shizune motioned them in. Sasuke chose to wait in the corridor by the door. He wasn't family.

"Sasuke, get in here."

It wasn't a suggestion, but then again, Tsunade wasn't one to give anything but orders. So, Sasuke stepped into the room, walking over to stand beside Naruto's parents before shoving his hands awkwardly into his pockets. He was forced to take his left hand out when Minako pulled at his wrist, wrapping her hand in his and squeezing tightly as they waited. She had her husband's hand held tightly in her other one.

"I've got what could potentially be good news."

"Potentially?" Minako asked as Sasuke's eyes flickered to the new machine in the room. It looked like it was recording Naruto's brainwaves.

"Well, it appears his mind is oscillating between his world and this one. Something must have happened that broke his concentration on his world, so he's almost in between."

"Meaning?" Arashi asked.

Sasuke winced. Minako was crushing his hand.

"Well, this could go either way." Tsunade sighed. "The best case scenario is he'll wake up within the next week or two. Worst case scenario—he lapses back into his world and we've lost him again."

Minako took a sharp intake of breath, her hand tightening in both Sasuke and Arashi's grips. No one said anything for a few seconds, until—

"Sasuke?" He turned to Naruto's mother. She'd let go of Arashi's hand and held Sasuke's in both of hers. "Sweetie, you'll—" Her voice caught in her throat and she closed her eyes, taking a few breaths to calm herself before continuing. "He twitched because of you. You were alone with him when it happened, so—he's probably locking onto you."

"Me?!" Sasuke resisted the urge to point at himself in incredulity, but it was hard.

"Minako's right." He turned to Tsunade, still in shock. "You come here every day and talk to him. You're probably his anchor in this world, so you're going to need to make sure you keep visiting him."

"Of course." Sasuke blurted out. "Yes, I'll be here."

"Good." Tsunade smiled. "This is progress. We might wake him up yet."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto. Was he really going to wake up?


	4. Of Anchors

**AN: So... WHERE did I say Naruto was waking up for sure? ;P Also, thanks to everyone who told me Kishi had a brother. I knew he had a sibling, but I didn't know he had a twin. My Disclaimer was just me being a tard, as per usual. **

**Also, review replies will have to happen tomorrow because by the time I finished this chapter, I had no energy to reply to reviews, sorry.**

**Disclaimer: Ugh, can't think. They're not mine, I should let it go and just hog Hideki and Kyousuke. -hogs-**

* * *

"You sure you don't want to speed up?" Sakura asked Naruto as they walked leisurely through the trees, the blond with his hands shoved in his pockets. Sakura had hers behind her back, fingers interlaced as she looked over at her friend. 

"Why bother? He'll still be there when we get there." Naruto grinned at her. She rolled her eyes.

"You're the one who was rushing to Sound to see him, and now that you have him back, you're less excited."

"It's not that I'm less excited, it's just—I know where he is now. I know how to contact him, and I know I can talk to him whenever I want. I see no need to rush."

"I guess." Sakura sighed, looking up at the sky. It had lightened considerably. She hadn't realized Naruto was so tired, because he'd slept for over eight hours and woken up in a panic. She'd been confused, but he'd insisted he felt like he wasn't going to wake up, and looked so relieved to find nothing had changed when he had.

"What do you think will happen to him?" Sakura whispered.

It was something the two of them had been wondering about their ex-teammate, but neither had been brave enough to ask until now. Sakura only did because it was driving her insane, and she knew Naruto would want to talk about it. Or maybe he wouldn't, but _she_ wanted to, so it came out.

"I don't know." Naruto admitted. "I'm—scared Tsunade-no-baachan is going to have him killed."

"She knows he means too much to us, Naruto, she'd never do that."

"But the villagers will pressure her." he whispered. "He betrayed Konoha and went to its enemy. There's no way he'll just be forgiven like that, Uchiha or not. He's basically like Itachi. If _he_ came back, I doubt the villagers would welcome him back with open arms just because he's an Uchiha."

"I guess." Sakura replied.

The two continued on in silence, walking slowly. They passed into the shade as the hot sun beat down on them, the village coming into view through the trees.

"Do you think..." Naruto turned to Sakura as she trailed off. "Do you think things would've turned out differently if Orochimaru had never shown up during the Chuunin exams? If I had been—stronger..." Her jaw clenched for a second. "If I had stopped the seal from being put on him, do you think things would have turned out differently?"

Naruto thought about it for a second, looking back at the gates of Konoha. "No." he replied honestly. "If Orochimaru hadn't gotten to Sasuke during the Chuunin exams, he'd have succeeded at another time. Either way, Sasuke's own lust for power would have driven him to Sound. We wouldn't have been able to save him, no matter how hard we tried."

"But you did." Sakura insisted with a smile. "He's back now, as bitter as he is about it. I'm sure he'll thank you for it. After all, who wants to share their head with someone else? Could you imagine sharing your body with Orochimaru?"

Naruto shuddered at the mere thought. "It's the tongue." He stuck his tongue out and pointed at it. "The tongue! It freaks me out."

Sakura giggled, agreeing with him as she shoved Naruto slightly, calling him an idiot. The blond laughed and Sakura couldn't help but feel relieved. Naruto hadn't acted this immature for a long time, and it just showed that having Sasuke back was making him act like his old self. She knew Tsunade would be glad to hear a "Tsunade-baba" coming from the blond's mouth once more. She might even yell at him for it, but Sakura knew that inside, Tsunade would be happy.

"Naruto!" The two looked ahead as Hagane Kotetsu came rushing towards them. Both panicked for a second, thinking maybe Sai and Kakashi had never made it back and Sasuke had killed them or something, but they relaxed when they noticed the grin. "You actually brought Sasuke back!"

"No one ever thought you would succeed!" Kamizuki Izumo exclaimed as he reached the blond, as well. "No offence, it was nothing against you, but—he's _Uchiha Sasuke_. I can't believe you did it!"

"Yup, yup." Naruto grinned widely, lacing his hands together behind his head and laughing slightly as he walked forward pompously. "I always told everyone I'd be able to beat Sasuke."

"Don't gloat!" Sakura hit him across the back of the head.

"Itai! Sakura-chan, that hurt!" Naruto whined as he chased after the rosette, who was storming towards the village.

"He seems happier, doesn't he?" Kotetsu commented with a small smile.

"Yeah, he does." Izumo agreed.

* * *

"Tsunade, you _can't_ be serious!" Naruto hollered. 

"Regardless of the fact that he returned without complaints, it still doesn't change the fact that he left of his own free will. Until we're certain there's no ulterior motive for him, he's staying locked up." the Hokage repeated calmly. She was doing what was safest for the village—and Naruto. Even if he didn't like it, he was damn well going to accept it. "Now, give me the scroll." She held out her hand for it.

"Not until you let Sasuke out."

"Naruto, I am not speaking to you as Tsunade, I am speaking to you as your Hokage." She narrowed her eyes. "Give me the scroll, or I will have my ANBU get it from you before I put you into solitary."

Naruto growled, slamming the scroll with Orochimaru's soul in it onto the desk. Tsunade stared at it, but didn't touch it. She looked up at Naruto before looking at his hand. He understood, holding it out to her. The woman carefully removed the gauze Sakura had put around his wound. Once the bandages were removed, she stared at his injury, reaching forward to touch the burns carefully. Naruto made no sound, he just winced on occasion.

"This happened when you sealed him?"

"Yes." Naruto replied.

"Are you sure he wasn't able to have a part of his soul enter you through your hand?"

"It's too crowded in here, Kyuubi wouldn't let someone else in my noggin." Naruto motioned his head. "Orochimaru's stuck in there," he jerked his head in the direction of the scroll, "but based on this burn, I don't think he'll just stay there quietly."

"Oh, he will. I'll make sure of it." Tsunade called in an ANBU and told him to take the scroll cautiously to the forbidden scrolls section in the Hokage tower. She was going to inspect it more later, but she needed to talk to Naruto first.

"Naruto, are you going to be okay?" she asked. "With Sasuke back, I mean. I know this isn't going to be easy for you, and for Sakura, but if you never want to see him—"

"Wasn't I just trying to get him out of his cell?" Naruto reminded her. Tsunade sighed.

"Look, Naruto, I know you, and I know how kind you are and how you sacrifice your own happiness for others. I won't let you do that, not this time. Sasuke went to Sound of his own free will, and he betrayed Konoha. I won't let you forgive him so easily."

"Isn't that my choice?"

"Naruto," Tsunade leaned forward, placing her hands flat on her desk, "you'll go to Sasuke, you'll forgive him, you'll be nice to him, he'll use you, and then, he'll destroy you all over again. I won't have you be the way you have been since he left. I won't _have_ it!"

Naruto stared at her for a few seconds before sighing, running his hand through his hair. "Can I at least see him?"

"With an escort."

"You don't trust me?"

"I do trust you, Naruto. It's _him_ I don't trust."

* * *

"Kiba!" Sasuke ran after his friend in the school hall before homeroom, the brunette ignoring him. "Kiba, wait up!" 

"I'm through waiting for you, Sasuke." Kiba snapped as Sasuke caught up, grabbing his arm and wrenching him around.

"Dude, just fucking listen, all right!"

Kiba sighed, turning to Sasuke, annoyed. He was pissed off that Sasuke kept blowing everything off for Naruto. He understood that the two used to be best friends and everything, but throwing away everything for said _unconscious_ best friend just wasn't cool.

"What?" Kiba snapped.

"Naruto—his hand twitched."

Kiba blinked. "What?"

"Naruto's hand twitched when I went to his place on Saturday." Sasuke informed. "And Nana said that it's a good sign and he—he might be coming back."

Kiba grabbed the front of Sasuke's shirt, yanking him forward. "What?! Are you sure?"

"Yeah, man." Sasuke grinned. "I was thinking that maybe, if you came over today, we could talk to him for a while and he might—I know it's a long shot, but maybe he'll... wake up."

"Yes, oh my—_fuck_ yes! I am _there_, dude! Fuck, are you serious? He could actually come out of this?"

"Yeah." Sasuke rubbed the back of his head as he and Kiba started walking again. "It's—kind of weird, huh?"

"And fucking _awesome_! Oh my God, I'll stay there all night if I have to, but that fucker's waking up." Kiba bounced slightly. "Shit, this is so exciting."

"Yeah." Sasuke grabbed Kiba's shoulder. "Dude—don't tell Sakura, okay?"

"Uh, knock knock?" Kiba knocked on Sasuke's head, the raven scowling. "I'm not a moron. That bitch ain't finding out _squat_ from me."

"Good." Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets as the two continued walking. "I'm thinking of asking Sai to come, as well, but he might be busy. Does he have karate on Mondays, or Tuesdays?" Kiba frowned, trying to think. When a few seconds passed and he still looked thoughtful—or, as thoughtful as Kiba _could_ look—Sasuke sighed. "Never mind."

"Dude?" Sasuke looked back at Kiba. "If he does come back, do you think he'll be—different?"

It was something Sasuke had been worrying about ever since Tsunade had told them Naruto might be waking up. What if Naruto didn't remember anyone? What if he became one of those people who couldn't cope with the real world and ended up killing himself, or went into a mental institute or something? What if his world was better than this one and he tried to go back to it?!

Sasuke was starting to panic, worried that Naruto would wake up and want to go back. Sasuke wouldn't be able to cope with that, he depended on Naruto too much. That was something he'd noticed the first week Naruto had been in his coma. Sasuke _needed_ Naruto. They'd been together for so long that Sasuke didn't know what it was like to be without him—until he'd been forced to be, that is.

"Uh, Sasuke?" The raven turned to Kiba, snapped out of his thoughts. The brunette was standing behind him, motioning a door. Sasuke shook his head and turned around, entering the classroom he'd just walked by. "You're worried, aren't you?" Kiba asked as he took a seat beside Sasuke. "That he won't be the same."

"I don't mind if he's different." Sasuke whispered. "I just—don't want him to have forgotten me. Or you, and everyone else. I don't think I could handle it if we had to start all over again."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Kiba sighed, leaning back in his chair and putting both hands behind his head. "You guys have known each other since you were, what? Ten?"

"Nine." Sasuke whispered. "We met through Sai cause he and Sai have known each other since Naruto was four."

"Right, right. Sai's dad came over to talk business with yours, right? And Sai came with him, so that's how you guys met. It's kind of weird to think you and Sai met first and you ended up being better friends with Naruto."

"Sai can be a little weird sometimes." Sasuke shrugged.

"I guess." Kiba sighed. "But I sort of know how you feel. Even if I was twelve when I met the guy, it's still been six years—well, four, I guess, since he's been unconscious for two of those years."

"Yeah." Sasuke didn't want to talk about it anymore, which ended up being convenient because the classroom door opened to admit their homeroom and English teacher, Kakashi. He sat down awkwardly, since he wasn't looking where he was going, his nose buried in a book. Sasuke rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

He couldn't wait for the day to be over.

* * *

Sasuke slammed his car door, flipping the keys in his hand as Kiba followed suit, trotting up Naruto's driveway to catch up with Sasuke. The raven hit a button on the key that locked the car doors before walking up onto the front porch of the house. 

He'd asked his parents to borrow one of their cars because he wanted to make sure he got there before Sakura did, which proved to have worked since he'd noticed her waiting impatiently at the bus stop. He hoped the buses had all exploded or something.

As they reached the front door, there was a note on it, and Sasuke felt quite smug to note that only _his_ name was written on the sheet of paper.

"'Sasuke, Arashi was feeling sick this morning so he stayed home. He is sleeping, so please don't ring the doorbell and just come in. I'll probably be in the kitchen.'" Kiba read aloud. "Dude, only _you_ could get this much love from the ladies."

"Shut up, dumbass." Sasuke shoved Kiba before opening the door and walking in. He took off his shoes before heading to the kitchen to let Minako know he was there. She was chopping vegetables when he entered, and he knocked lightly on the doorframe.

She jumped and spun around before smiling. "Sasuke. How was school?" She grabbed a dish towel, wiping her hands on it as she walked towards him.

"It was all right. I brought company." Sasuke jerked his thumb behind him, motioning Kiba, who was walking towards the kitchen after having taken off his shoes.

"Oh, Kiba. It's been a while. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Sorry I haven't been around, school's been a killer." He rubbed the back of his head, suddenly feeling guilty.

"It's all right. Sai's upstairs with Naruto, if you want to head on up."

"Sai's here?" Sasuke asked, amazed.

"Mm hm. He's on holidays right now, some random university week off." Minako chuckled slightly. "I called to tell him about what happened on Saturday so he decided to come over."

"That's cool." Kiba nodded. "Haven't seen much of him since he entered university. It's a shame he's a year older than us." The brunette patted Sasuke's shoulder before turning, heading for the stairs.

"Will you be staying for supper, Kiba?" she called after him, but not too loudly, in case her husband was sleeping.

"Hells yes, Mrs. U." Kiba called back, Sasuke wincing. Minako laughed.

"He reminds me a lot of Naruto."

"Except Naruto's not an idiot." Sasuke smirked before heading for the stairs as well.

"How about you, Sasuke? Will you be staying?" He turned to her and nodded.

"Sure. I'll call my parents in a few hours." Sasuke started climbing the stairs.

He heard Kiba yelling Sai's name and rolled his eyes, hoping Arashi wasn't asleep or else he wouldn't be anymore. Kiba could be such an idiot sometimes, but that was sort of what made him fun to hang out with.

Sasuke entered Naruto's room to find Kiba holding Sai in a headlock, the older boy laughing while trying to punch the brunette in the stomach. Sasuke smiled, realizing he always missed Sai once he spent time with him.

"Sasuke, hey!" Sai grinned. "It's been a while. I always have to leave for class when you come visit, so I always end up missing you."

"Don't you mean _I_ miss _you_?" Sasuke teased as he sat down at the end of Naruto's bed, since both chairs were now occupied. "I come here every day, you only come twice a week."

"Three times a week, I'll have you know." Sai grinned, Kiba finally realizing Sai didn't care he was being strangled, and giving up.

The brunette plopped down properly in the chair beside Sai, leaning close to Naruto's face. He poked Naruto's cheek, the blond's head turning slightly from the action. Kiba continued to poke his cheek until he moved his hands to tickle Naruto's neck. He got no response.

"Are you sure he might be waking up?" Kiba frowned, pursing his lips. "He still looks pretty comatose."

Sasuke was saved from having to hit Kiba across the head because Sai beat him to it. The Uchiha would probably end up hitting him later, anyway, just for the hell of it.

"Dammit, Kiba, can't you have a little bit more respect?" Sai snapped, his anger clear on his face. Sasuke knew how he felt; this could go either way, and they were both scared Naruto could sink back into his own little dreamworld.

"What do you think he's dreaming about?" Sasuke whispered, Sai and Kiba looking at him.

The two boys then followed Sasuke's gaze, all of them looking at Naruto's peaceful face as he slept.

"He always wanted to be prime minister, so maybe he's fifty, balding, and the head of Canada." Sai laughed slightly. Kiba shook his head.

"Naw, dude! He's totally some assassin guy, all buff and stealthy, with me as his hacker and Sasuke as his right hand man."

"What about me?" Sai asked, confused.

"You're the person who drives us away from the crime scene." Kiba grinned. Sai just rolled his eyes. "What about you, Sasuke? What do you think?"

"I don't know." He cocked his head to the side. "His world is probably too different from this one for your ideas to be plausible, because he could be either of those things here if he really wanted to be. I'm thinking it's something different, something a little more entertaining to him."

"Like a samurai!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Yeah." Sai grinned. "Or a ninja."

"Oh, shit, dude! A ninja would be fucking sweet!" Kiba exclaimed. "But a samurai would still be better. They have their honour and shit. That stuff is _tight_."

"You're just an idiot." Sasuke smirked.

"Aw, dude! You're such a fucking asshole!" Kiba leaned closer to Naruto, pointing at Sasuke. "You see? You see what I've had to put up with since you've been gone? I miss the good old days where only _you_ were insulted."

"I didn't insult him _that_ much." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "And besides, he loved it when I insulted him." Sasuke grinned ferally, but then jumped a mile high as Naruto's leg moved.

"Holy shit, did you fucking see that?!" Kiba exclaimed. Sai's eyes were wide, staring at Naruto's left leg. "Naruto? Hey, dude, can you hear me?"

"Sasuke." The raven looked at Sai. "Talk again."

"Huh? Why?" Sasuke frowned.

"Just—just talk again. Talk about your day."

"Okay." Sasuke cocked a confused eyebrow, then thought about it a bit. "Well, Kakashi tripped over his desk three times this morning because he was reading that stupid book."

"I'm surprised he doesn't have it memorized." Kiba snickered.

"No kidding, he's been reading that book since we were in, like, the eighth grade or something. He must just re-read it continuously."

"His hand moved." Sasuke and Kiba stared at Naruto's hand, Sai's eyes practically burning holes into it before he looked up at Sasuke. "It's you."

"It's me what?" Sasuke asked, confused.

"You're his anchor. You're what's bringing him back. When his hand twitched on Saturday, it was you who was alone with him, talking to him. And now, when you talk, it's like his body reacts to it. He's using you as an anchor."

"Wait, so all this time, me coming here every day and talking to him—has made him sort of start coming back?" Sasuke asked, amazed. "But-but his parents talk to him more often than I do!"

"Maybe they don't exist in his world." Kiba whispered, his eyes on Naruto's face. "Maybe none of us exist in his world—except for you."

* * *

Naruto walked right past the guards of the prison, none of them even giving him a second glance since he was in full ANBU gear, mask and all. He knew Tsunade had probably ordered them not to let Naruto in, and since only a few people knew he was an ANBU Captain, they probably thought he was just going in to interrogate the prisoner. 

Once he was past all the guards, he walked along the row of cells, ignoring the shouts he got from all the other inmates. He walked to the end, stopping in front of Sasuke's cell and looking in at him.

The proud Uchiha was sitting on the floor in the farthest corner, one leg bent and brought close to his chest so his arm could rest on it. The other hand rested on his other thigh. His eyes were fixed on a spot on the wall in front of him, ignoring the fact that someone had appeared by his cell door.

"I never thought I'd see you looking so pathetic." Naruto commented, which caused the Uchiha's eyes to slowly shift to the side to look at him. Naruto lowered his hood and pulled off his ANBU mask, looking in at Sasuke.

The raven's eyes strayed to Naruto's mask and he snorted, looking back at the wall. "Nice mask."

Naruto looked down at the fox mask before shrugging. "It suits me."

"What's going to happen to me?" Sasuke asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"Does it matter?"

"Not really."

"Then why bother asking?" Naruto leaned against the bars, resting his forehead on the cool metal.

Neither said anything for a time, Sasuke staring at the wall and Naruto staring at Sasuke. It was weird seeing the raven behind bars, since he was, at one time, worshipped by all in Konoha. He was an Uchiha, after all.

"Why did you come after me?" Sasuke asked, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts. The Uchiha was looking at him, now.

"I missed sparring with you." he remarked dryly, which caused Sasuke's eyebrow to twitch.

"You haven't changed." The raven looked back at the wall.

"Yeah, well, neither have you." Naruto accused, crossing his arms and leaning his back against the bars so he wasn't looking at Sasuke. "You're still a bastard."

"And you're still a dobe." Naruto suddenly found Sasuke's arm wrapped around his neck, having slipped easily through the bars. "Why would you turn your back on me?" he hissed, his lips dangerously close to Naruto's ear.

"Because you can't kill me." the blond commented easily, his expression unchanging. "I'm not too concerned."

"Hn." Sasuke didn't move, pressing himself up against the bars and pulling Naruto closer to them, as well. "You haven't seen me in three years, what makes you think I wouldn't kill you?"

"Because I'm not the one who betrayed you." Naruto commented. "And I gave you the ability to kill your brother by taking Orochimaru out of you."

"Hn." Sasuke released Naruto, taking a step back. The blond turned around to look at him as the Uchiha retreated to his corner and sat down again, staring at the wall.

"Naruto!" The blond's head snapped to the side where an angry Tsunade was glaring at him. "Come here, _now_!"

"Looks like my visit's over, teme." he commented, looking back at the raven.

"Guess so, dobe." There were a few seconds of silence before, "Will I see you again?"

"If the hag lets me." Naruto smiled at him before walking towards the Hokage. "You wanted something, hag?"

Tsunade grabbed his arm, yanking him outside the cell area and past the guards. Once they'd left the prison altogether, she spun around and slapped him. Naruto stumbled, wincing at the pain in his cheek before balancing himself again and looking at her.

"You disobeyed a direct order, which for any other person, would have been a month in a cell." she snapped. "Dammit, gaki, do you think I'm telling you stay away from him because I'm trying to punish you?! I want to keep you safe until I _know_ we can trust him!"

"We _can_ trust him, Hokage-sama!" Naruto insisted, trying to be as respectful as possible.

"We'll give him a week." she hissed. "Ibiki will talk to him—"

"You mean torture him." Naruto interrupted bitterly.

"He's a traitor, Naruto." Tsunade said slowly. "Watch yourself around him or everything you've achieved with the villagers will disappear just as quickly." She started walking away from him, headed back for Hokage tower. "I'm sending you on a mission tomorrow. Be in my office at five am."

"Yes ma'am." Naruto muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets as he turned and started walking home, Sasuke's words echoing in his ears.

"_Will I see you again?"_


	5. Of Pain

**A.N: So, I was GOING to try and write this out and post it on Thursday, but I got called into work. I GOT CALLED INTO WORK ON MY DAY OFF! I was SO mad -anger!- At least I was on returns... not too, too bad... BUT STILL! I only get two days off a week, can I please HAVE them?! T.T**

**Also, ignore this: CYN! ARE YOU GETTING MY EMAILS?! -panics-**

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi and I came to an agreement, but the bastard double-crossed me T.T**

* * *

"Naruto!" The blond jerked up in bed, his heart hammering in his chest at the sound of his name. He'd had the weirdest dream about Kiba, Sai and Sasuke, though why he'd been dreaming that, he would never know. He couldn't even remember what had happened. All he knew was that they were talking to him. 

There was a loud bang, and he jumped, turning to his bedroom door. "Naruto, wake up!"

Someone was pounding on his front door.

He groaned, rubbing the back of his head as he threw his covers off himself and got off the bed, walking slowly towards his front door with a yawn.

"It's too early in the morning for people banging on my door." he mumbled, annoyed. He'd gotten back from his mission the night before at almost four in the morning. He opened his door, almost getting a fist in the face since the person pounding was about to start again.

"Finally!" Sakura exclaimed. "Took you long enough."

"Do you realize what time it is?" Naruto yawned.

"Yeah, it's two in the afternoon."

The blond blinked at her. "Oh."

Sakura rolled her eyes before Sai appeared beside her, smiling brightly and waving.

"Morning, friend!"

"Oh, God, it's _definitely_ too early." Naruto went to shut his door when Sakura pushed into his apartment, Sai bouncing in after her, still smiling brightly. Naruto sighed and wondered what he'd done to deserve this right after waking up.

He shut his door and wandered into his kitchen, where Sai and Sakura were already seated at his table. The raven even had an apple in his hand.

"Please, help yourself." Naruto muttered as he headed for his cabinet to pull out a cup-ramen.

"Sasuke was released today." The blond's hand froze. "Ibiki said there didn't seem to be any malicious intentions, so they let him return to his place. He's going to be watched by ANBU, obviously."

"You're one of them." Sai informed before pulling a scroll out of God knew where and tossing it to Naruto. "Personally, I'm not happy with this."

"Don't you think Sasuke's suffered enough?" Sakura demanded as Naruto hastily opened the scroll.

"He tried to kill Naruto! On numerous occasions! Or have you forgotten? You _hated_ him when we were setting out to retrieve him, and now suddenly you're his best friend again?"

"No!" Sakura exclaimed, appalled. "I just think he's suffered enough, what with Orochimaru's betrayal and not being able to kill Itachi, and then getting dragged home and interrogated by Ibiki. We're going to have to make up with him sooner or later."

"You just like him because you think he's hot." Sai smiled.

"If you're going to kill each other, please do so outside. I don't want to have to clean blood and brain matter off my walls." Naruto muttered as he looked over the scroll.

Suddenly, the blond's hands went limp, the scroll falling from his grasp before he collapsed to the floor. Sakura and Sai had launched themselves from their chairs, panic in their eyes.

"Naruto!"

"Naruto, what is it?" Sakura bent down beside him as he stared down at his legs, confused. "Naruto, where does it hurt?"

"It doesn't." he replied, confused. "I don't get it." He poked his leg. "My legs just stopped supporting me, for some reason, and my arms feel heavy."

"Should we take you to the hospital?" Naruto couldn't recall ever having seen Sai so concerned before.

"No, I'm fine." he insisted, forcing his legs to move. It took a second, but they moved, and then felt fine. He bent and straightened his legs, confused.

"Maybe I got up too fast?" He scratched at his head.

"I think..." Naruto looked at Sakura. "I think you should _really need a new best friend, Naruto_."

The blond blinked. Sakura's lips had moved, but they didn't match the words that had left her mouth.

"Excuse me?"

"I said I think you should go talk to Tsunade about this."

Naruto stared at her as if she'd grown a second head, utterly confused. He hadn't heard those words, he'd heard something else. It had sounded just like Sakura, but it wasn't what she'd said.

"Wow..." Naruto whispered. "I think I need more sleep or something. I'm hallucinating." He rubbed his eyes. He wondered if maybe he was still asleep.

"Naruto, I really think you should go see Tsunade." Naruto just now noticed the lack of suffix. He rubbed his head.

"No, I'm fine." He grinned at his friends before jumping to his feet. "I feel great. I'm gonna go con Iruka-sensei into buying me ramen, so you guys need to leave." He pulled both back to their feet, ushering them towards the door. "I'll see you both later, okay? Great. Good bye."

He slammed the door once they were outside and leaned against it, frowning. He felt like he was dreaming. "This is ridiculous." he whispered, shaking his head.

With a sigh, Naruto turned and headed back for his room. He pulled off his pyjamas and grabbed his black pants and shirt, yanking them on before pulling his Jounin vest over it all. He shoved his feet in sandals and headed back for the kitchen, picking up his mission scroll and re-reading it. He didn't have to report to the Uchiha compound for another couple of hours, so he figured he really _would_ seek out Iruka. He had a few things to discuss with him, anyway, such as what he should do about Sasuke.

Iruka was the only person Naruto had ever told about loving Sasuke. He'd almost wanted the man who was like a father to him to talk him out of it. He'd wanted Iruka to tell him it was wrong and that he should continue going after Sakura—who'd really warmed up to him.

Naruto would never forget the answer to his question.

"_But Iruka-sensei—isn't it wrong for me to love Sasuke; another man?"_

"_I don't see why you'd think that. I'm dating Kakashi."_

That was when Naruto decided Kakashi was an even bigger pervert than Jiraiya. Iruka was innocent and pure, and the only person Kakashi went after amongst his vast array of friends—was said innocent and pure Chuunin.

Yeah, Kakashi was a super perv.

"Well, better go find Iruka-sensei." he decided before exiting his apartment.

* * *

"Sasuke, honey?" The raven stirred, opening a sleepy eye and looking up at his mother. She smiled at him. "Sweetie, it's six-thirty." He groaned, shifting and putting his pillow over his head. Mikoto laughed and pulled the covers off her son before smacking his butt. He grunted at the action. 

"Come on, up!" She exited his bedroom, turning on his light before closing his door.

Sasuke lay in bed for a few minutes longer before the cold started sinking into his exposed skin and he sighed, pulling the pillow off his head.

He rolled onto his back and stretched, rubbing his bare stomach before getting up and heading slowly towards his door. He exited his room and wandered down the corridor to his bathroom to shower. It wasn't until he got into the white-tiled room that he debated it. Showers took so long, and he might not be able to eat breakfast before leaving. Though, he had to admit, most of the time he ate it on-the-go, because his mother was magical like that.

With a sigh, he ran his hand through his hair and decided he needed a shower, so he locked the door, pulled off his boxers, and got into the tub. He turned on the hot water and let the drops beat onto his skin. It burned and turned his skin red almost instantly, but he didn't mind. It felt nice.

The raven braced himself against the wall, his hands flat against the tiles, his arms straight. He bowed his head and let the water run through his hair and down his body as his mind wandered. He thought about his visit with Naruto the day before, his hands clenching into fists against the wall. Sakura had told Naruto once again to get a new best friend. Sasuke was going to blurt out one day that Naruto needed a new girlfriend. All of his friends wanted him to get a new girlfriend—well, he was unconscious, so it wasn't his fault, but Sasuke just wished she'd officially dump Naruto and get on with her life.

Of course, it hadn't helped when Naruto's arm shifted while Sasuke was talking and she'd screamed for Minako, which had then led to the woman telling Sakura that Naruto would be waking up soon. Well, maybe.

Sasuke rested his forehead against he tiles, letting the water run down his back. "Fuck, you moron, you better wake up. If you slip back into your own mind, I'll beat you up so bad you'll wish you'd never fallen into a coma in the first place."

His head snapped towards the door as he heard a knock. "Sasuke, mum wanted me to tell you breakfast is ready. You're gonna be late."

Itachi still sounded half-asleep, which made sense, since he didn't have class until nine. Sasuke didn't understand why he woke up so early all the time.

"I'll be out in a minute." he called.

"Don't jerk off in there, I need to use that shower soon."

"Gross!" Sasuke hollered. "Get the fuck out of here!"

He could hear Itachi laughing as he walked down the corridor. That just made him pissed off and he grabbed some shampoo, washing his hair speedily before rinsing the suds out and turning off the water.

Stepping out of the shower, he dried off quickly before grabbing his hair gel and doing his hair. He then wandered back to his room in a towel, throwing his boxers into his hamper. He heard a knock at the front door while he was in the process of getting dressed, and cursed. If Kiba was already there to pick him up, he wasn't going to be able to eat breakfast. Well, not at home, anyway.

"Oh well." He didn't really care, anyway. In all honesty, his stomach was still queasy from thinking about Sakura.

"Sasuke, let's go!" Kiba called from the bottom of the stairs.

"You're lucky I'm awake, dumbass!" Itachi's voice was heard from down the hall.

"You'd forgive me, anyway." Kiba was definitely grinning.

Sasuke grabbed his black hoodie and bag before opening the door and pulling the sweater on while going down the stairs, juggling his bag from hand to hand as he did so.

"Have a good day." Mikoto handed Sasuke a sandwich, the raven thanking her before taking a bite as he headed for the door. She was always on the ball. Every time Sasuke thought he'd miss breakfast, she always whipped something up at the last second for him. He always ate it, even if he wasn't hungry.

"See you later." Sasuke called back through the house before slamming the door and following Kiba down his driveway, taking another bite of his sandwich.

"You need to wake up earlier or something, dude." Kiba got behind the wheel of his Honda, Sasuke getting in beside him.

"What? I make it on time." Sasuke insisted.

"Barely." Kiba snickered as he pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the school. "Hey dude, I was thinking—"

"Don't strain yourself." Sasuke smirked.

"Haha, my, aren't _you_ a funny one." Kiba rolled his eyes. "_Anyway_, as I was saying, I was thinking that once Naruto woke his ass up, we should take him clubbing or something. Have a party." The brunette waggled his eyebrows. "Maybe we can get him a new girlfriend."

Sasuke's stomach turned over at the thought, but he attributed it to car-sickness. "I don't think you realize that when he wakes up, his muscles aren't going to work for a while. He'll have to work them and stuff before he'll be fine again."

"Shit, soccer player who won't even be able to walk? It'd almost be nicer to keep him in his dream."

"There's no guarantee he'll even wake up wanting to play soccer." Sasuke muttered, looking out the window.

"Man, how are we gonna tell him two years have passed?"

"Kiba, I say this with the nicest intentions, but can you please shut the hell up?" Sasuke rested his forehead against the cool glass. "You keep talking as if he's definitely going to wake up, but we don't know that."

"We don't know that it _won't_ happen, either." Kiba reminded him.

The rest of the ride took place in silence.

* * *

Naruto leaned back against the side of the ramen stand, looking up and down the street, his arms crossed. He was waiting for Iruka to join him before entering Ichiraku, though he didn't feel very hungry, anyway. He sighed, raking his hand through his hair, and then shifting his gaze up to Hokage mountain. His eyes memorized every line on the Hokage's faces, hoping to one day have his own face etched onto the stony wall. 

"_Naruto, please—"_ The blond's head whipped around, scanning the people passing him. Where had _that_ come from?! It was a woman's voice, and she sounded upset.

He pushed away from the stand, walking into the crowd and looking around. No one was paying attention to him, so where had that woman's voice come from? _I'm really losing my mind._

"Naruto." The blond turned, seeing Iruka waving at him from in front of Ichiraku, smiling brightly.

Naruto turned away from the crowd, looking over his shoulder one last time before joining Iruka. "Hey, Iruka-sensei."

"How are you? I haven't seen you in a while." Iruka pulled the awning to the side, Naruto walking in with the teacher following him. Teuchi didn't even bother asking what they wanted, setting down two glasses of water before starting their miso ramen.

"I know, it's been too long. But, you know, ANBU Captain and all. Makes for a pretty limited social life." Naruto grinned.

"Speaking of which, I heard you were going to be watching Sasuke." Naruto's fists clenched and it took a conscious effort for him to unclench them.

"Who told you?" he whispered.

"Kakashi did. And then Sai." Iruka stared at the blond, whose eyes were downcast. He was concerned. "Are you going to be okay with this?" he asked.

"Honestly—I don't know." Naruto sighed, raking his hand through his hair. "I don't know how to act around him."

"You still love him, don't you?" Iruka asked sympathetically. He knew Naruto was probably confused, and he wished he could help him more, but there was only so much he could do.

"I..." Naruto trailed off. "Things are different."

"Did you know that, aside from Ibiki, you're the only person he's acknowledged and talked to?"

Naruto stared at Iruka, stunned, as the two bowls of ramen were placed in front of them. _Sasuke only spoke to me?_ he thought, amazed. He never would have thought so, considering how casual he had seemed. He'd assumed the raven was like that with everyone.

"You talking about the Uchiha?" Teuchi leaned forward on the counter, both men looking at him. "He was here about an hour ago with his ANBU escort, looking for you." he said to the blond.

Surprisingly, this didn't make Naruto happy. If anything, it just confused him even more. What did Sasuke want from him? Even on their way home, he'd been staring at him, and Naruto knew it was because he wanted something. But what? Did he want to go back to how things were? Naruto didn't think that was possible, but he was willing to start a new friendship. Or even, maybe, something more.

"My head hurts." Naruto whined, burying his face in his hands and letting out an explosive sigh. Iruka patted his shoulder.

"You're going to see him later, right? Just talk to him, see how it goes. Maybe he wants to be your friend again or something." Iruka shrugged. "A lot of time has passed, you've both changed and grown. Just see where things take you."

"I guess." Naruto shifted the noodles around in his ramen bowl. He really wasn't hungry anymore, but since Iruka was paying, he would feel bad if he didn't eat, so he pulled some noodles out of the broth and put them into his mouth.

"_Naruto."_

And then promptly choked.

He coughed hard, hitting his fist against his chest to try and make the noodles go down. Iruka was regarding him worriedly as the blond finally managed to breathe properly. He whipped around, opening his mouth to say something, but the words died in his throat.

There was no one there.

"Naruto?" The blond turned to Iruka.

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" The Chuunin frowned.

"It was—" Naruto cut himself off, seeing the look of concern in Iruka's eyes. "Nothing. Nothing, forget it."

The blond hunched over, continuing to eat his ramen and ignoring the way Iruka was staring at him. Was he losing his mind?

"_Naruto, please wake up."_ Sasuke's voice said to him.

_I __**am**__ awake!_ Naruto's mind screamed as he stared down into his bowl. _Aren't I? _

* * *

"That isn't going to work." Sakura rolled her eyes at Sasuke from the door, the raven jerking his hand away from Naruto's hair, having been running his hand through it. He glared at the girl walking into the room. 

She plopped down on the edge of the bed, crossing her legs, which exposed much more of her thigh than Sasuke wanted to see. Her skirt was way too short, and that pissed him off.

"I think we should try the Snow White approach." She smirked before turning her head towards Naruto and bending down. Sasuke grabbed her closest arm and wrenched her up, growling. She just smirked at him, but Sasuke wasn't amused.

"Don't make out with him while he's unconscious." he growled, tightening his hold on her arm. Her eyebrow twitched, but she showed no other signs of discomfort.

"I do it all the time when we're alone." She smirked.

"Well, don't." Sasuke barked, pulling her hard. She was forced to stand up off the bed, glaring down at Sasuke, who was still seated. He glared back before releasing her arm, then rested his elbows on his knees, lacing his fingers together. He placed his chin over them and stared at Naruto, completely ignoring Sakura.

The girl scoffed, crossing her arms. "You _really_ think it's because of you, don't you?" Sasuke said nothing. "Because his hand twitched a couple of times while you were with him, or while you were talking. Pathetic."

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched and he grit his teeth, but said nothing. She wasn't worth it, and he knew she was just trying to piss him off. It was working, but she didn't need to know that. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

"Aw, did I hit a nerve, baby?" She put her hand on his shoulder and he shoved it off angrily, getting to his feet and turning to face her, his fists clenched. She smirked at him, and it took a conscious effort for Sasuke not to hit her.

"What do you know about him?" Sasuke's fists were shaking angrily. "What the _fuck do you __**know**_?! All this time he's been unconscious, you go out with other guys but you still have the _nerve_ to call him your boyfriend?! You disgust me!"

"Excuse me?" Sakura hissed. "I am just trying to get on with my life without being depressed all the time because _my_ boyfriend is in a coma!"

Sasuke ignored the emphasis on the 'my'. He was just pissed she was being such a slut.

"You don't deserve him." Sasuke insisted. "You never did! He was always too good for you!"

"You're just jealous because he cares about me more than you!" Sakura shrieked.

Before Sasuke could open his mouth to throw out some kind of insult, the door opened and Minako entered, looking back and forth between the two teenagers.

"What on earth is going on in here?" she demanded.

Sasuke noticed Sakura had tears forming in her eyes, and the urge to punch her rose. She was faking those tears, he could tell. Her eyes weren't going red, so they were obviously fake.

"Sasuke is being horrible to me." One of the tears fell down her cheek and she wiped it away with the back of her hand. "He says I shouldn't be here for Naruto."

Minako turned to look at Sasuke, noting his clenched fists and angry expression. She'd always known the two put up with one another only because of Naruto, but she assumed with the blond so close to waking up, their intense hatred for one another was resurfacing.

"All right, come on, Sakura. Let's go downstairs. I'll make you some tea." She wrapped one arm around the girl's shoulders, leading her away as Sasuke turned back to Naruto, trying to calm himself down.

"I don't know why you let her rile you up." Sasuke's head turned to the door, surprised.

"Nana! I didn't know you were here!"

Tsunade just smiled at him, walking into the room. She put one hand on Sasuke's shoulder before looking at Naruto and sighing. "You know that your friendship will always be more important to the brat than his suck-up little harlequin."

Sasuke had to smile at that. Oh, he loved Tsunade so for her hatred towards Sakura. It made him happy.

"I guess, I just—I always worry, you know, that he won't care about me when he wakes up."

"Sweetie, Naruto will _always_ care about you. You will always be important to him, understand?"

Sasuke nodded, and she smiled as Sakura reappeared at the door, mumbling something about waiting there while the tea water boiled.

"Is it okay to leave you alone, or do I have to referee?" Tsunade half-joked, looking back and forth between the two.

"No, we'll be okay, Nana." Sasuke noticed Sakura wince at the fact that he'd been allowed to call her 'Nana'. _That's right, bitch, I mean more to this family than you do._

The old woman left and Sakura crossed her arms, avoiding looking at Sasuke. "Let's just be civil and continue pretending to like each other."

"Fine." Sasuke sat back down in the chair, Sakura taking the stool at the end of the bed.

* * *

Naruto was really nervous as he headed for Sasuke's place, wringing his hands together. He had opted for wearing his normal clothes instead of putting on his ANBU outfit to make this a little more personal. Even if Sasuke was technically a prisoner, he had—at one time—also been Naruto's friend. 

He walked up to the front door and hesitated. He raised one hand to knock and almost had a heart attack as someone landed right beside him.

"Naruto-taichou!"

Letting out a shriek of absolute terror, Naruto spun around, his hand clutching his heart as he stared at the ANBU in front of him.

"_Don't scare me like that!"_ he hollered, his voice much higher than usual.

"I-I apologize, taichou, I was sure you had sensed me." The ANBU seemed confused.

"I'm a little on-edge right now." Naruto admitted right before the door opened. He and the ANBU turned to see Sasuke staring out at them. Naruto shifted uncomfortably before turning to the ANBU.

"Thank you for your help, you may go."

The ANBU bowed his head slightly before disappearing, probably heading back for Hokage tower since Naruto was relieving him.

"You're my new babysitter." A statement, not a question.

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, rubbing the back of his head before nodding. The raven moved aside, allowing Naruto to enter his home. The blond did so, walking through the door and removing his shoes before entering further into the house. It suddenly occurred to him that the ANBU from a few seconds ago had been outside, whereas Naruto had been invited in. He felt nervous all over again.

"I imagine you'll want ramen." Sasuke passed him, heading for the kitchen.

"Actually, I just ate." he informed him, following the other teenager. He realized Sasuke didn't look as bad as Naruto had imagined after an interrogation by Ibiki.

"What would you like, then?" Sasuke paused by the kitchen door, his hands in his pockets. Naruto shifted uneasily, looking into the living room.

"Actually, I'd really like to talk. I think—we have a lot to discuss." He turned back to Sasuke.

The raven just nodded before heading into the living room, Naruto following. He sat down on the couch, but the blond opted for the armchair across from it, not trusting himself to be that close to Sasuke. He cleared his throat before starting, not even sure where to begin.

"I've—um, I don't even know where to start." he admitted, rubbing the back of his head, then sighing. "You've been staring at me a lot." Sasuke said nothing. "And I heard that apart from Ibiki, I'm the only person you've talked to."

"So?" Sasuke asked, his face an emotionless mask. Naruto felt his stomach turn over.

"So, I was wondering why."

Sasuke stood up, and Naruto had never felt so intimidated before in his life. His dark eyes were narrowed, but his face was still expressionless. He walked around the table that separated the couch and the armchair, Naruto leaning away slightly as Sasuke came up beside him. He stared down at him, and the blond felt really vulnerable, for some reason.

He leaned back further in the seat as Sasuke put one hand on either armrest, and brought one knee up to place between Naruto's legs, the blond staring at him wide-eyed. His heart was beating insanely fast, at this point.

"Why indeed, Naruto." Sasuke leaned forward, his eyes on Naruto's lips. The blond closed his eyes out of reflex, waiting for the other to press his lips against his.

Then, pain exploded in Naruto's chest and his eyes snapped open as he looked down to find Sasuke's hand through what he could only assume was one of his lungs. His breath instantly left him as blood pooled out of the wound around Sasuke's hand. Sasuke didn't pull it back out, having learned last time that doing so would only allow the Kyuubi to heal it. He wanted Naruto _dead_ this time.

The raven leaned closer to Naruto, his lips brushing against the blond's ear. "You took away my one chance to kill Itachi by sealing away Orochimaru. We had a deal, but you destroyed that. For that, I'm going to destroy _you_!"

He moved his hand inside Naruto's body, his fist clenching around the blond's heart and squeezing.

The blond couldn't breathe anymore, his vision blurring. Soon, it went black.

And Naruto died.


	6. Of Awakenings

**Disclaimer: **

**Kiba: Sorry, Sarge can't put a disclaimer in right now since she stole me again so K. Masashi sent Itachi after her. She's currently trying to fend him off with a broom and a pot. It's not working out too well for her.**

**AN: I am SO sorry for the long-ass wait! I swear, I didn't mean for the cliffhanger to be this long, I'm not that mean of a person, and I'm SO sorry! I had this finished up on Friday, but I wanted to reply to reviews before posting it, and I went to a wedding on Saturday, so I couldn't. I was GOING to reply today, but I got called into work ON MY DAY OFF again! So I got home and figured it was mean to just wait because of the reviews, so I'm posting it now and review replies will happen when I have enough time. I'll start now, but I'm gonna be working for the next four days, so... yeah. That's my shpeal. Sorry :(**

**Next chapter: NOW ACCEPTING BRIBES! Thanks, Ander ;P lol (I'm kidding, of course)**

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**Naruto's heart rate monitor flat-lined. Sasuke was sad and killed himself. The end, lol. Sorry, yeah, I'll stop being a tard. Just a short AN to explain the burn on Naruto's hand, cause people are still confused. The burn was to show that the dream was coming to an end, in a way, because Kyuubi wasn't healing it. I don't know why I'm saying this in an AN at the beginning of a chapter that everyone wants to read because Naruto is "waking up"... or I killed him, muahaha. I should just babble some more. **

* * *

Consciousness slowly returned to Naruto, his brain foggy and his thoughts slow. _Wh-what? I thought-I thought Sasuke killed me. What's going on?_

A voice pushed itself into his mind, and it took him a few seconds to identify it. _Sakura-chan?_

"He doesn't think I deserve you; as if _he_ does."

"More than you do."

"Fuck you!"

_S-Sasuke?! What is he doing here? And with Sakura? __**What's going on?!**_

"Can you maybe _not_ be a bitch for all of five fucking min—" Sasuke cut off and his eyes widened as Naruto groaned.

"Naruto?!" Sakura practically shrieked.

"Nana!" Sasuke jumped to his feet, running to the door and opening it. "Nana! Mrs. Uzumaki!"

"Naruto, can you hear me?" Sakura moved to Sasuke's seat, looking down wide-eyed as Naruto's brows furrowed and his head turned to the side slightly. He let out another groan, and Sakura thought she was going to cry.

"What is it?" Tsunade appeared at the door first, rushing to Naruto's side and pushing Sakura out of the way. She rested one hand on Naruto's forehead.

"He groaned!" Sakura exclaimed, excitement bubbling inside of her. "He groaned twice!"

"Naruto, can you hear me?" Tsunade asked as he turned his head again, towards her voice. His eyes slowly opened and the woman thought she was going to have a heart attack. "Naruto." she smiled.

"Is he awake?!" Minako shrieked from the door, but Tsunade just held one hand up towards her, her eyes still locked on the blond.

"Can you see me, Naruto? Can you speak?"

"Tsu–na..." Naruto inhaled deeply and the woman smiled again, tears in her eyes. He knew who she was—well, her name, anyway.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm so glad you remember me."

She turned, motioning Minako forward. The woman flew towards the bed, launching herself at her son and hugging him tightly. "Oh, sweetheart! Oh, thank God!"

Tsunade noticed the confusion flashing across Naruto's face.

"Sa–Sasuke..." Naruto ground out.

The raven's eyebrows shot up from his location at the door, completely stunned that he was the first person Naruto had asked for.

"Sasuke? Yes, he's here." Tsunade looked towards him and motioned him forward. The raven felt sick to his stomach. He was so nervous he almost just wanted to bolt, but he instead walked slowly towards Tsunade and Minako.

"Hey, dude." Sasuke smiled down at Naruto once he reached Tsunade, Minako still hugging her son.

The blond's face changed instantly when he saw Sasuke, and he tried to jerk back, but because of his muscles having deteriorated due to lack of use, he didn't get far.

"Ge-get'way f-from me." Naruto insisted, his voice slowly coming back.

"Naruto, it's Sasuke!" Tsunade insisted as a flash of hurt crossed the raven's face.

"K-killed me... Sa-Sasuke... I t-trusted you..."

Sasuke's head snapped back as everyone stared at Naruto. Even Sakura felt a little bad for Sasuke at that comment. Naruto was obviously delusional.

The raven didn't wait to hear anything else, he turned and ran out of the room.

"Sasuke!" Tsunade ran after him as Minako just stared at her son, not able to believe what he'd just said. "Sasuke, wait!"

The Uchiha didn't wait. He didn't stop. He just pulled on his shoes and ran out the door, trying to ignore the tears streaming down his face. He should have known it was too good to be true. So what if Naruto was awake? He'd predicted something foreboding, this just confirmed it.

Sasuke had been scared before that Naruto wouldn't have remembered him. He almost wished that was the case.

It wouldn't have hurt as much.

And it did. It hurt. It hurt so much, but he couldn't fully comprehend why.

He wondered what the dream-him had done—well, other than the obvious. He'd apparently _killed_ the blond. But why? They were best friends, why would Naruto's mind supply him with an image like that? Sasuke wouldn't hurt Naruto; ever!

He'd never gotten home so fast in his life. He ran all the way, ignoring his burning lungs and shaky legs. He didn't even realize he'd forgotten his bag and keys until he ran up the driveway, but the door was unlocked, anyway. He ran inside, kicking off his shoes.

"Sasuke, honey, Tsunade's on the phone for you." Mikoto called, but the raven ignored her. He ran up the stairs, gasping as he struggled to breathe and cry at the same time. Itachi was coming down, and noticed right away that something was wrong—it was pretty hard to miss. He grabbed his brother's arm as he went to pass him, stopping the younger boy in his tracks.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?"

"Let go!" Sasuke hollered, pulling his arm violently from Itachi's grasp and continuing up the stairs. Itachi followed with hurried steps, reaching Sasuke's door as the raven slammed it. The elder brother tried it, but it was locked.

"Sasuke?" He knocked. "Sasuke, what's wrong?" He received no answer. "Open the door; talk to me. Come on." He knocked again.

Mikoto climbed the stairs, standing near the landing and watching as Itachi knocked on the door some more. The older boy looked at his mother and sighed, shrugging. He had no idea what was wrong, but he suspected it had something to do with Naruto. His blood suddenly ran cold as he considered the possibilities. Had Naruto lapsed back into his coma? Or worse—had he _died_?!

"Sasuke!" Itachi pounded on the door.

"Itachi." He turned to his mother, who seemed like she didn't know what to do. "Just leave him be."

"What happened?" he demanded as he walked towards her.

"Naruto woke up." she whispered with a wince. "And—well, it's not exactly turning out the way we'd all hoped."

* * *

Minako paced outside Naruto's bedroom door, biting her knuckles nervously. She kept throwing glances at the blond's door, while Sakura leaned back against the banister, deep in thought. Tsunade came up the stairs, both turning to her. The woman sighed. 

"Mikoto said Sasuke won't come out of his room." she informed.

"I feel awful." Minako covered her face. "Why would Naruto say something like that?"

Tsunade just sighed, shrugging. "Have you been able to reach Arashi?"

"No, he's still in a meeting. I told his secretary it was urgent, but she said she can't go into the meeting room, but she'll let him know as soon as he comes out. So, we'll just have to wait." (1)

They all stood in silence for a few more minutes before a cry exploded from Naruto's room.

"_What?!"_

Minako leapt towards the door, but Tsunade caught her wrist, pulling it away from the doorknob and shaking her head. "Just let Shizune deal with this. It's obvious it'll be a shock for him, give him time."

"He's my son!"

"I know." Tsunade soothed. "But this is very delicate, and—"

"Will you cut the bullshit, mum?! I'm going in there!" She freed her wrist and threw open the door, walking in. Shizune looked over from her location beside the bed as Naruto stared at Minako wide-eyed.

The blond was propped up against his headboard, though his arms and legs were laid out awkwardly, since he couldn't move them himself. His eyes were so wide it looked like they should be able to fall out of his head.

"Sweetie—"

"Minako, you shouldn't be here right now." Shizune said sternly.

"But my son—"

"Son?!" Naruto blurted out, his eyes going wider—if that was even possible. "What?! I'm y-your _son_?!"

"Minako, please!" Tsunade pulled her daughter's arm. "Come back outside."

"Tsunade, Shizune—I don't understand!" Naruto exclaimed as his arms rose slightly, as if to clutch his head, but they fell back down soon after, since he wasn't strong enough to support them yet.

Shizune stood, pushing Minako and Tsunade out. "Please, just wait outside." She closed the door.

So, they waited. For close to an hour, they waited. They heard the occasional outburst from inside the room, but Shizune calmed Naruto relatively quickly. The three women outside alternated between leaning against walls or the banister, and pacing. Sakura really needed to go home, but Naruto was _awake_, so she wasn't going anywhere. Also, she needed to talk to Naruto about Sasuke. About the raven's betrayal.

Shizune finally opened the door, shutting it quickly behind herself as Minako launched herself at the psychiatrist.

"Well?!"

The woman sighed. "We have a lot of work ahead of us. He remembers most of the people he knew in real life, but a few people don't exist to him." She winced. "You and your husband would be the latter."

Minako started crying, Tsunade shushing her as she hugged her daughter.

"Um, he remembers me, right?" Sakura stepped forward. Shizune nodded. "Can I talk to him for a second?"

The woman glanced at Minako and Tsunade, who would be busy for a while, then sighed and nodded, opening the door. Sakura entered the room before shutting the door and turning to look at Naruto. He just stared at her.

"Hey." she said nervously. She felt like this was her first time ever speaking to Naruto. "Um, Shizune says that you remember me. I'm glad." She smiled, walking forward and sitting in the chair beside the blond's bed. "You must be really confused."

"Understatement." Naruto said softly before offering her a weak smile. "At least you seem the same, Sakura-chan."

The rosette rose an eyebrow. "Chan? What is that, a term of endearment?"

Naruto blinked at her, then blushed, looking away. "I guess you don't use suffixes."

"No." Sakura giggled. She shook her head, feeling a little more relaxed, now. She stared at Naruto with a warming smile before sighing and speaking. "So, you and I obviously knew each other in your, um... your..."

"My dream?" Naruto supplied. She smiled awkwardly.

"Yeah. Well, I'm glad I was in it. Did you know we're dating?"

Naruto's jaw dropped. "We-we are?!"

The girl nodded with a brilliant smile, reaching forward and taking one of Naruto's hands in both of hers. "We have been for a while. It was so weird spending these last two years without you." She bit her bottom lip, closing her eyes. _He owes me for this!_ "It was hard for Sasuke, too."

"He ki—"

"I know." she interrupted, looking up at him. "I know the prick killed you in your dream, but in a way, I'm glad. It's because of that one act that you woke up." She pulled one of her hands away from Naruto's and ran it through his spiky locks, smiling tenderly.

Naruto stared at her for a few seconds, confused. Slowly, realization dawned on him, and his jaw dropped again.

"You hate Sasuke."

"We hate each other. It's mutual." She smiled. Sakura looked down at her hands, which were rubbing against the smooth skin of Naruto's hand. "We've never liked each other, we just put up with one another because you mean so much to the two of us." She laughed. "You definitely need a new best friend, though. I'm not so cruel as to tell you that he's a horrible person, but he really isn't going to be good for your recovery if you're scared of him." She shrugged. "I suppose the choice is yours, but just know that this Sasuke doesn't have any interest in hurting you. He'll never be here for you like I will, though." She ran one hand across Naruto's cheek with a smile.

The door opened and both turned to look at it. Shizune smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but you should probably go. Minako would like to spend time with her son."

"Of course." The girl stood, smoothing out her skirt before turning back to Naruto with a smile. "I'll see you later, okay?" She bent down and kissed the blond's forehead.

The teenage girl left the room and Naruto watched as the woman who'd been labelled his mother walked in. She had short, sandy hair with dark blue eyes. He could see the resemblance between them, and even if it was weird, he smiled at her. The woman smiled back weakly, sitting down in the chair beside his bed as the door was closed.

"I, um..." Naruto really wished he could rub the back of his head, but his arms were really heavy. It was annoying, really. "I'm really sorry I don't remember you."

"Oh, sweetie, it's okay." She went to reach out and touch him, but retreated her hand at the last second, setting it down awkwardly in her lap. "Shizune tells me you have quite the imagination. Ninjas, huh?"

"Yeah." Naruto smiled, but it slipped off his face easily. He stared down at his dark blue bedspread, a large fox emblazoned on it. "It seemed so real."

"Shizune said they always do. But I'm glad that you're finally back."

"I guess—me too." He turned and smiled at her. "It's nice to know I actually have a family, and that everything that happened wasn't... well, real."

"Oh, sweetie!" Minako couldn't hold back this time, and reached forward, taking his hand. Naruto just smiled awkwardly, looking around his room. He noticed a lot of pictures with him and Sasuke, his eyes lingering on one of the two of them in mid-air, the picture having been taken as they'd been jumping into a pool.

Minako followed his line of sight and smiled. "That was on your fifteenth birthday." she informed him. "It looks like you're both jumping but you actually grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled him in with you."

"I see." Naruto said dumbly.

"Honey, I know this is going to be hard for you, but please just listen to me, okay?" Minako shifted closer, holding his hand in both of hers now, much like how Sakura had done earlier. "I don't know the details of what happened while you were in your coma, but you claim Sasuke killed you. That may be true in your dream, but the Sasuke in this world isn't like your other one. He's your best friend, he cares about you a lot. He's never hurt you—well, there was that one time he knocked out one of your teeth, but in all fairness, you deserved it." She smiled at him. Naruto just stared at her, noting the difference in tone between his mother and Sakura.

When Sakura spoke of Sasuke, her dislike of him was clear in her voice, and he suspected she may have told him to accept this Sasuke merely because it would be problematic for her if he didn't. When his mother spoke of Sasuke, she had appreciation and love in her tone, and it was clear that Sasuke was an important person to her. But even if the two tones were different, they still carried the same message.

"Sakura told me he wasn't a bad person."

"I'm impressed that she's grown up enough to leave her problems with Sasuke between herself and him. She really dislikes him, and he her, so it must've been hard for her to tell you that."

"It looked hard." Naruto admitted with a smile.

"But it's true, honey." Minako rubbed his shoulder with a loving smile. "You mean everything to him. He came here every day to see you. He literally dropped everything for you. Sasuke cares about you, and even though your Sasuke did something horrible, in a way, he didn't. He brought you back to us. Sasuke's been important in your recovery all along, both in this world and in your dream. Oh, sweetie, please don't judge him for something that never happened, Sasuke would never hurt you, ever."

Naruto stared at her for a few seconds before looking back at the pictures around his room. He pressed his lips together.

They both looked over at Naruto's bedroom door as they heard a slam and hurried footsteps. "Minako! What happened?! Is Naruto all right?!"

The blond frowned at the voice. He didn't recognize it. _That must be my dad, I guess... This is so weird... _Naruto kind of wished he'd never woken up.

"It's all right, Arashi. It's all right, everything is great." Naruto could hear the smile in Tsunade's voice.

"What happened?"

"He's awake."

"What?!" The door slammed open to admit a blond man with sharp blue-grey eyes and a brilliant smile on his face. "Naruto."

Admittedly, the words that came out of Naruto's mouth weren't exactly what the teenager had been intending to say.

"Holy shit! The Fourth Hokage!"

Everyone was silent, staring at him as Naruto stared back at none other than Yondaime Hokage. The man looked at his wife before looking back at Naruto.

"Also known as 'dad'." he said slowly. The blond teenager blushed, looking down at his hands as his mother smiled. "But—that's okay. You can call me the... um..."

"Fourth Hokage?"

"Yeah, that." He laughed, walking into the room and sitting down at the foot of the bed. He smiled, putting his hand on his son's leg. "It's good to have you back."

* * *

Sasuke lay on his side on his bed, his back facing the door. He was feeling so many mixed emotions he was surprised his brain hadn't exploded from it all. He was tired, and grouchy, and he really wanted to kill something, though he had nothing at his disposal to kill. 

There was a knock at his door. "Sasuke? Sakura's here to see you."

_Scratch that, I have something to kill, now,_ Sasuke thought angrily. Though, as sweet as it would be to kill the annoying bitch, he really didn't want her coming into his room and laughing at him because Naruto was delusional and thought he'd killed him.

"Tell her to go away." Sasuke snapped to his mother.

"Sasuke, stop being a princess and open the door."

Sasuke let out a feral growl as he rolled off his bed and stomped angrily towards his door, unlocking and opening it. Sakura winced at his angry glare, but stood her ground admirably, her head held high. She started past Sasuke to walk into his room but he barred her path with his body. He noticed his mother was gone. _Good, no witnesses._

"Can I come in?"

"No."

"Fine." She glared, crossing her arms. "God, you're such an asshole."

"I don't need your insults. You won, go live with him for all I care!" He started to slam the door but Sakura moved to shove her foot against the wood, stopping it from closing.

"I thought you should know that you owe me."

"Do I?" Sasuke sneered. If she didn't move her foot, he was going to find a way to trap it between the door and its frame.

"I told him you weren't like that." Sasuke blinked.

"Like what?"

"Like the you from his dream." Sakura sighed, removing her foot now that she knew she had Sasuke's attention and smoothing out her skirt. "I told him that you weren't a horrible person, and that... well, that's pretty much all I told him."

"And you had to come to my house to tell me this?" Sasuke asked dryly, though he _was_ grateful. Sakura just didn't need to know that.

"Well, if I'd called, you'd have hung up." The girl replied in a tone just as icy as Sasuke's. "So, now you know, and I'm going to leave before I break out into hives from being too close to your room." She scratched her arm, as if to emphasize her point. The raven just glared at her and watched her go. Once she had descended the stairs, Sasuke slammed his door and locked it again.

He wandered over to his bed, sitting down and staring at the wall in front of him. Was Naruto really going to give him another chance? Sasuke hoped so, though he suspected he may not have had the best reaction ever to what Naruto had said. _At least I didn't jump on him or anything. _He sighed, running his hand through his hair.

The raven looked over at his phone before sighing. He shifted on his bed and reached out, snatching it off the cradle and putting it to his ear to make sure no one was using it. When he heard the dial tone, he dialled the familiar number and listened to it ring.

"Hello?"

Sasuke took a deep breath. "Hi, Mrs—"

"Oh, Sasuke, thank goodness." Minako sounded truly relieved. "I'm so sorry about what happened, Naruto explained everything to Shizune and she's come up with a feasible theory. Please don't hate Naruto for what he said, it's complicated, and..."

Sasuke had to smile as the woman continued to babble. She seemed genuinely concerned about him, and it almost appeared like she was trying to make up for what Naruto had said. Sure, Sasuke had been upset, but in all honesty, he hadn't been about to give up. Sakura's words just meant he was going to try again sooner than he'd been planning.

"It's all right, Mrs. Uzumaki, really." He smiled slightly, playing with the corner of his blanket. "Um, if it's okay with you, and with Naruto, I was wondering if I could come over tomorrow. You know, just so I can talk to him and stuff. I want him to know I'm not like the Sasuke in his world." His hand tightened around the phone.

"It's fine with me, I'm sure it'll be fine with Naruto, too."

"Can you—just ask him, please?" Sasuke's hand tightened even more.

"Of course, one second." He heard shifting as she covered the phone, and then heard muffled voices. She came back on the line a few seconds later. "He says it's fine."

Sasuke let out a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding. "I'll swing by after school, as usual."

"All right, we'll see you then, Sasu... what?" The raven frowned as he heard muffled voices again. "Naruto says he can't wait to see you, Sasuke." He could hear the smile in her voice. Sasuke smiled, too.

"I can't wait to see him, too. Good night." He hung up before she replied, his hands shaking. He felt nervous, for some reason.

He supposed it was because seeing Naruto like he was now—it would be like becoming the blond's friend all over again.

* * *

(1) I see Arashi with a government-type job, which my father has, and in those jobs, even if you say it's an emergency, unless you're shrieking about someone s/he loves dying, meetings can't be interrupted. It sucks :(

* * *

**AN: So... I forget where I put the word "angst" in this fic... I was pretty sure I hit "Drama" when I chose the categories ;P**


	7. Of Confusion

**Disclaimer: I escaped from Itachi, but I'm stuck living in this random basement with a mutant named Bob. He, too, was forced down here for trying to steal K. Masashi's characters.**

**AN: I'm SO sorry T.T I keep getting called in on my days off, so I have no time to reply to reviews and write. Sorry!**

* * *

Sasuke worried his bottom lip nervously as he watched the scenery go by outside. Itachi looked pretty laid-back in the driver's seat, one hand on the wheel and the other across the window sill. He'd offered to drive Sasuke because he didn't have a late class, and he knew that his brother would go insane waiting for the bus. Hell, Mikoto was lucky the raven had gone to school at _all_. 

"How did your friends take Naruto's awakening?" Itachi asked to break the highly tense silence.

"The Uzumaki household phone must've been ringing off the hook for hours." Sasuke replied. "Sakura's a chatterbox, so everyone and their mother knows he's awake. Luckily, the bitch has a doctor's appointment and her mum wouldn't let her miss it, so she won't be there today. Thank God."

"What about Kiba and Neji?" Itachi rounded a corner in a smooth motion. It just made Sasuke even _more_ nervous.

"They don't want to intrude just yet. Hell, even _Sai_ is off on some five-day field trip with his archaeology class. He flipped out when I called him. He'll probably try and come home earlier, but he's in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere, so who knows?"

"Well, it just means you'll have him all to yourself." The older Uchiha turned onto the Uzumaki's street and rolled up into the boy's driveway. Sasuke swallowed hard and Itachi had to smile.

"Come on, I'll walk you to the door." Itachi took the key out of the ignition and got out. Sasuke followed suit after a brief hesitation. The two walked up to the front porch and Sasuke's finger paused in front of the doorbell. Itachi pushed against him, which caused the younger boy to press the mechanism.

"I wasn't ready!" Sasuke snapped.

"We'd have been here all day if we had to wait for you to be ready." Itachi smirked as they heard footsteps coming towards the door. It opened, and Minako started slightly upon seeing the elder Uchiha.

"Oh, Itachi! It's been a while. You look great! Handsome as ever, I see."

"Thank you, Mrs. Uzumaki. You look well, yourself."

Sasuke had to admit, the woman looked _fantastic_ today. Her face was flushed, her eyes were full of life, and her voice dripped with excitement. It was odd. Then again, Sasuke supposed he'd gotten so used to the dead look on the woman these past two years that seeing her this happy again was weird. It wasn't a bad thing, just not something he was used to.

"Would you like to come in and see Naruto, Itachi? He might remember you, as well. Come to think of it, he never mentioned you when he spoke of his elaborate story." She moved aside to let the two brothers enter, Itachi smiling politely as Sasuke just lingered near the door, not even taking off his shoes yet.

"Sasuke's nervous because of what Naruto said yesterday." Itachi informed the woman, which earned him a glare from his brother.

"Oh, it was dreadful seeing that look on your face, Sasuke." Minako hugged the boy, which he found slightly awkward, but he hugged her back nonetheless. "Naruto didn't mean anything by it, you'll understand once you hear his story. It's quite amazing, I must admit. Either way, don't worry about it. I don't know what Sakura said to him, but with her speech, and mine, he felt guilty and asked a lot about you. Of course, I said nothing but good things." she teased as she poked his shoulder. "I was so relieved when you called, Naruto had said he wanted to see you after Arashi and I spoke to him, but we thought it best to wait until you were ready."

"I'm ready, just—a little nervous, is all." Sasuke cleared his throat and finally took off his shoes as the woman insisted she take Itachi's coat so he could stay for a cup of coffee. He continued to decline politely, but he _did_ want to see how Naruto was doing.

"Are you ready?" Sasuke asked his older brother as he waited by the stairs. The other boy smirked as he headed towards him in his socks.

"I think the _real_ question is, are _you_?"

"Tch." Sasuke turned, shoving his hands in his pockets, and climbed the stairs. Naruto's door was ajar when he got to the landing, which almost made him panic about that damn cat, until he remembered Naruto was awake. He took a deep breath as he walked towards the door, then winced. _He's been your best friend for years. Just do it._

With a nod, Sasuke pushed open the door and looked in. Naruto was sitting up in bed with a cute pout on his face, a book open in his lap. It appeared to be biology, and the blond kept poking at the pages in annoyance. Kyuubi was purring softly as he lay at the foot of the blond's bed, barely even twitching an ear as Sasuke pushed open the door.

"Hey, Naruto." he said nervously, feeling like his throat was sandpaper.

The blond looked up, startled, and almost smiled until all the colour drained from his face and his mouth opened in a large 'O'. Sasuke frowned, about to ask what was wrong, when Naruto let out a shout of rage and tried to jump out of bed, only to have his legs not cooperate and cause him to do some sort of weird movement with his upper body. Kyuubi leapt high into the air in fright before running full speed out the door in a panic.

"Get away from me!"

A stab of pain shot through Sasuke's chest at hearing those words, and he resisted the urge to clutch it. _Guess he's not as over it as everyone said._

"Sasuke, look out! Chidori! _Use Chidori!_"

The raven blinked. _Wait—what? Okay, so he's fine with me, for the moment. Then who..._

He turned around, only to find his brother cocking an eyebrow. Sasuke wondered what it was about the Uchiha family, because Naruto seemed to be terrified of two out of four so far. Perhaps it was some kind of grudge he'd never spoken of? Maybe Naruto didn't like being an only child...

"Good to see you're doing well, Naruto. I suppose I'll take my leave and have Sasuke explain whatever it is you're confused about so that I don't cause you to die from lack of oxygen to the brain." Sasuke arched a delicate eyebrow at this until he realized Naruto was hyperventilating. "Give me a call when you're ready to come home, Sasuke, I'll come pick you up." Itachi patted his brother's shoulder, then turned and left.

The raven just stared at Itachi's retreating form while Naruto continued to hyperventilate. Once the elder Uchiha was out of sight, Sasuke snapped out of his daze and turned back to Naruto. He was just staring right back at Sasuke.

"Um, is it okay if I come in? I don't want to freak you out, so I won't get close to you if you're scared of me." Sasuke hated having to say those words, but he didn't need the blond dying on him or something.

It took a few seconds for Naruto to register the words Sasuke had said, and he shook his head as he attempted to calm his breathing. He then ran his hand through bright golden locks and tugged hard.

"I hate this... I hate being so confused! I wish I'd never woken up!"

Those words hurt Sasuke, but he supposed he could sort of understand what Naruto meant. Everything was different in this world, from what he could gather, and he was worried his best friend would turn into one of those cases he'd read about. They couldn't adapt to real life. He hoped not.

"I can explain anything and everything to you, if you want me to. I don't care if it takes all night." Sasuke took a cautious step forward, being sure to move slowly. The action caused Naruto to look up again, his hands still buried in his hair.

Using slow motions, Sasuke put his bag on the ground by the door before stepping forward again and motioning the chair beside Naruto's bed. "I'm going to sit down there, okay? Don't freak out on me or anything, I'm not going to hurt you."

The blond just watched as Sasuke headed for the chair. The Uchiha himself felt like an idiot using all those slow motions, but he really didn't need Naruto saying anything else that would unintentionally hurt him. Once he reached the chair, he sat down, Naruto still staring at him.

"Okay, I'm going to sit here and not move." he informed. "So, what would you like to know?"

Naruto blinked at him, then looked down at the book he was reading. "What's this?" He pointed to a picture. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, confused at Naruto's attention span, but just shrugged and leaned forward slightly to see.

"That looks like the inside of an artery, but don't quote me on that."

"Oh." Naruto frowned, that cute pout returning to his lips.

"Um, Itachi freaked you out almost more than I did." Sasuke figured he'd get all the people-confusion out of the way now. It would make life easier for _everyone_. "How come?"

"Huh?" Naruto looked at Sasuke, and then paled as the words actually sank in. Sasuke figured maybe his brain was working more slowly or something since he'd just woken up from a coma. That, or his mind was going a mile a minute and he kept having to slow it down to actually register anything. "He's part of the Akatsuki."

"The what-a-kuti?" Sasuke asked, then realized he sounded like an idiot, but Naruto didn't seem to care about what he'd said.

"The Akatsuki! They're a group of missing-nins who are going after all the Jinchuuriki for their Bijuu in order to use them to take over all the countries. They have this huge statue thing that they use to extract the Bijuu, and you die if yours is extracted, and since I have one inside of me, I got scared Itachi came to get me. Also you and him hate each other and I thought you were both going to start a massive war in my room which would end up killing me, in all probability, and why are you looking at me like that?"

Naruto cocked his head to one side, utterly confused with the look Sasuke was giving him. The raven, himself, had all the words the blond had used going through his mind. _What the hell is a missing-nin? And a Jinchuuriki? A Bijuu? Damn, Naruto's got an impressive imagination!_

"Okay." Sasuke laughed slightly, shaking his head as he leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. "We're both going to have to help each other here, since you're confused about the real world, and I have _no_ idea what you just said."

Naruto blushed cutely as he looked back down awkwardly at the book in his lap. He ran his fingers over the page nervously as he struggled to make his blush go away. It took him a few seconds to realize he was blushing because Sasuke was smiling at him. _Looks like I'm in love with him whether it's in my head or in real life._

"Well, let's just say the Akatsuki are the bad guys, and they wanted to kill me. You hated your brother because he killed off your whole clan, and left only you alive, so you hated him and your whole purpose in life was to kill him."

"Interesting." Sasuke said slowly, then smiled. "Well, here, Itachi isn't a bad guy—except when he steals my food, but that doesn't count. Older brothers are meant to be jerks." (1)

"What about your clan?" Naruto asked.

The raven rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I don't know about clans, but if you mean our family, they're all alive. My parents, my brother and I live about ten minutes from here by car, and we're not the perfect family or anything, but we're pretty good."

Naruto frowned, cocking his head to one side. "Car?"

_Oh my God, why did I volunteer for this?_ Sasuke's mind screamed. _Because he's your best friend, now suck it up and explain it! _he answered himself.

"It's—well, it's basically this big square frame of metal with an engine. It's a way to get from place to place without having to walk or anything."

"Oh." The blond still looked confused, but Sasuke figured it was hard to explain what a car was, so he'd deal with that when the time came for him to get into one.

"Anyway, your mother said you had an interesting adventure in that head of yours." Sasuke leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "You mind telling me about it? I'd like to know why you were so scared of me when you woke up."

Naruto blushed again, and cursed himself for it. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. Sakura-chan—" The blond cut himself off. "Sakura and my mother told me you were a good person, and a good friend. I was just a little—confused."

"It's fine." Sasuke smiled. "We're chilling now, so I'm all right with it. I just felt bad that you were so scared of me."

"Oh, I wasn't scared." Naruto insisted as he shifted slightly on the bed, bouncing a little and grinning. "I was just shocked to see you, is all. After hurting me, I was wondering why you'd still be around." He shrugged. "At first I thought it was all a trick or something, and that this entire world was a genjustu." He saw the look on Sasuke's face and laughed. "An illusion, basically. I thought you were trying to trick me, but then I figured if you'd put your fist through my chest, why would you bother putting me in a genjutsu?" He shrugged. "And then I tried to dispel it a few times while I was talking to Shizune, not that I've ever been good at dispelling genjutsus, but I figured I was scared enough, it should've worked." He sighed, shrugging again.

"But you believe this is real now, right?" Sasuke clenched his fists without even realizing he was doing so.

"Well, as confusing as it is, even if it's not, I'd still like to pretend it is." He smiled brightly. "I have a family here. And you're my friend." He paused. "You _are_ my friend, right?"

"Yeah, I'm your friend!" Sasuke laughed a little. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."

"Good." Naruto beamed.

The two sat in silence for a few seconds, the blond clearing his throat awkwardly. He didn't know what to say to this Sasuke. He was so different—so open. It was weird.

"Um... do you want me to tell you about Konoha and stuff? You know, if you want me to."

"Sure." Sasuke smirked. "But prepare to be interrupted, because you keep using terms I don't understand."

"It's fine." Naruto grinned. He reached under the blankets and forced his legs to move so he could be more comfortable facing Sasuke. His arms had regained their mobility almost immediately because of Naruto's own determination to make them move, but his legs were a different story. He was going to have to do physiotherapy to regain the use of them, not that the blond understood what that meant.

Once he was sitting indian-style in front of Sasuke, he grinned and started. "Well, it all started when I was just a baby..."

* * *

Mrs. Uzumaki hummed a random tune as she walked up the stairs with a basket of folded towels, on her way to replace them in the hall closet. It was almost ten o'clock at night, and Sasuke and Naruto had been together all day. She'd even brought dinner to them upstairs instead of having Sasuke help Naruto to the table, just because she didn't think she would be able to get the boys there. 

She walked past the open door and paused on the other side to listen in, hearing Naruto's enthusiastic voice as he recounted his story. He hadn't gotten far with Arashi and Minako, mainly because it was so long, but she wanted to hear every word of it. Arashi had refused to allow her to listen to it when he wasn't there, so she'd had to spend the day showing Naruto what his real life was like. Oddly enough, it had been the blond who'd asked to see his physics and biology books.

When she heard what part Naruto was at, it was around the same place where she and Arashi had stopped, so she listened in for just a few seconds. Arashi didn't need to know. It was his own fault for working late.

"...And then, the demon brothers _ripped_ Kakashi-sensei apart!"

"No way! We must've been _screwed_ without him!" Sasuke's voice drifted out of the room. Minako had to smile. They were both so into this, it was adorable. _Boys and their toys,_ she thought with a giggle.

"That's what I was thinking, too! I was so sure we were gonna die, but then, they charged for Tazuna, and you, you were _so_ cool! I didn't let you know because I was jealous, but you were awesome! You threw a shuriken and a kunai to trap their chain against a tree, then jumped on their arms and just, bang! You kicked them both in the face and disconnected the chain from the mechanism it was attached to in their arms! It was so cool, I felt like an idiot!"

"But still, without Kakashi, there's no way we survived!"

"Oh, but he wasn't really dead, I'll get to that in a minute..."

The front door opened and Minako jumped, rushing down the corridor to the linen closet so her husband wouldn't know she had been listening in.

"Nice try, honey." Arashi called from downstairs as she opened the closet and laughed slightly.

"Oh yeah, and my dad was the Fourth Hokage!" Naruto's voice exclaimed randomly from his room, as if the man's arrival had suddenly reminded him.

Arashi climbed the stairs slowly, walking into his son's doorway as Minako hurried back towards it, as well. If Arashi was going to listen, then so was she.

"Retelling your story to Sasuke, now? Aren't you going to get tired of repeating it all the time?"

"Not really." Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a small laugh. "I really like it, especially since I know it isn't real—but it _felt_ real."

"We should have him write a book or something." Sasuke grinned. "You'd make millions."

"Oh, now there's an idea." Minako grinned at her husband, who just rolled his eyes.

"You should be heading home soon, Sasuke. It's late."

"Aw, but I haven't gotten to the cool part yet where I stabbed a kunai into my hand!" Naruto insisted, his eyes wide and pleading.

"Your father's right, we don't want you to exhaust yourself." Minako insisted.

"But I'm fine!" Naruto waved his arms about wildly. "I'm not even tired!"

"Still, Sasuke has to go to school tomorrow." The raven sighed, raking his hand through his hair.

"They're right, Naruto. I should go. I haven't even written my essay for Kakashi's class yet, and there will be hell to pay if I don't." Naruto pouted slightly. "But I'll come by again tomorrow."

The blond's eyes lit up. "Promise?"

"Yeah." Sasuke smiled. "I want to hear the rest of that story." _Especially the part where I supposedly kill you..._ Sasuke really wanted to know why Naruto had dreamed about that.

"Okay, we'll continue tomorrow, then." Naruto bounced excitedly on his bed.

"I'll give you a ride home, Sasuke." Arashi motioned him towards the door as Naruto stretched.

"Well, I might actually sleep if Sasuke's leaving." The boy yawned.

"You're tired?" Minako's voice held a hint of panic, and the blond blinked at her before looking at Sasuke, who was grabbing his bag from beside the door.

"You know, yesterday, they kept me awake until close to three in the morning because they didn't want me to sleep."

"Well, admittedly, you _were_ in a coma." Sasuke shrugged as he slung his bag over his shoulder. "To be honest, the thought of you sleeping sorta freaks me out, too."

"I'll wake up this time, I promise." The blond grinned widely, putting both hands behind his head. Sasuke just smiled slightly before waving.

"See you tomorrow..." He trailed off, wracking his brain for the word. What was it again? Ah, yes. "Dobe."

"Teme!"

* * *

The next couple of days weren't any different from that first day Sasuke had spent with the blond. Sai was told he'd fail his course if he left early so he'd stayed, though reluctantly. It had mostly been because of his parents. 

All of Naruto's other friends were too embarrassed to intrude, so Kiba had volunteered his house for the weekend so that everyone could see Naruto without bombarding the Uzumaki residence.

Of course, there was _one_ person who always followed Sasuke to the blond's house, which made him want to kill puppies. Sakura practically raced him to the bus stop every day, which made Sasuke just about homicidal. The first day she'd joined him at Naruto's, the blond had been forced to recount the beginning of his story again.

He was enthusiastic about it, and Sasuke didn't mind hearing it again because of how creative it was, but having to listen to all of Sakura's goddamn "oh"s and gasps was driving the raven absolutely bonkers! And the bitch kept leaning closer to him and touching the blond's hand or his shoulder and _Sasuke wanted to murder her_!

Never had he hated the pink-haired girl so much in his life! He didn't know _why_ he was so jealous, since Naruto treated them both equally—just like before his coma—but he was. He felt like because of him having "killed" Naruto, the blond was going to deviate towards Sakura, and Sasuke would rather die than live to see that happen.

"Oh, Naruto, you were _so_ brave!" Sakura leaned forward, both hands around the blond's closest forearm. He laughed, rubbing the back of his head with his other hand.

"Nah, I was lame. Nowhere near as cool as Sasuke."

"Sasuke sounds like he was just showing off." The raven's eyebrow twitched.

"At least I wasn't useless." he muttered, crossing his arms. It was Sakura's turn to have an eyebrow twitch, and she fake-smiled at Sasuke.

"I didn't get the chance to do anything because _someone_ was showing off."

"You know what? I _must_ have been showing off, because there's no way I would willingly protect _you_ for any other reason!"

Both glared at one another as Naruto began to feel highly uncomfortable. He hadn't seen the two of them fight much since he'd woken up, so even though he knew they disliked each other, he didn't know just how _much_. Shizune had also told Sasuke and Sakura to try and remain amicable, just so that it would be a little easier for Naruto to make the transition, but when two people hated each other as much as they did, being amicable was _hard_.

"Um..." Naruto felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face as he laughed nervously. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, fine." Sakura muttered dryly. "Sasuke's just being his usual asshole self."

"Yeah? Maybe we should tell Naruto about how _lonely_ you were while he was in his coma." Sasuke spat.

"You have _no_ right to judge me!" Sakura shrieked, causing Naruto to shrink back in fear. He had no idea how to stop them. Usually, it was he and Sasuke who fought and Sakura had to stop them. To see the other two fighting left Naruto at a loss for what to do.

"You guys?" he said nervously.

"Oh, no right to judge? Tell me, what have _I_ done to betray Naruto?"

"At least _I _didn't _kill_ him!"

"_That wasn't real!"_

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, getting angry.

Both turned to him immediately, as if having forgotten he was there. "Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry." Sakura leaned forward to kiss his cheek, but Sasuke grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Don't." he growled.

"Why? Jealous?" the girl bit out.

"Okay, stop!" Naruto exclaimed again, getting frustrated. "What the hell is going on?"

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked innocently.

"What do _you_ mean 'what do I mean'?! You guys are practically at each other's throats for basically stupid reasons! Why? I know you said you hated each other, and my mother said you two didn't get along, but—what the hell?"

The two shifted uncomfortably, waiting for the other to answer. When it became clear that Sakura wasn't going to, Sasuke sighed and did instead.

"Naruto—Sakura and I can't stand each other; we've never been able to."

"We only started tolerating one another after you fell into your coma." Sakura jumped in, which made Sasuke growl.

Naruto just stared at them as Kyuubi padded into the room and jumped onto the bed, sitting beside Naruto's hip and purring while staring at him, as if asking to be pet. All in the room ignored the cat.

"Wow..." It was all Naruto could think to say. When Sakura had told him that she and Sasuke hated one another, he hadn't imagined it was this serious. "You _loved_ Sasuke in my dream-world."

"For which I almost barfed when you mentioned it." Sakura replied, making a disgusted face.

"Thank God it was a dream." Sasuke agreed.

"Oh, like you _wouldn't_ want a piece of me if I liked you."

"I don't _now_, what makes you think I _ever_ would?"

"Hey!" They both looked at Naruto again. "Shit. Every word turns into a war between you two."

"Sorry, baby." Sakura took his hand in hers and squeezed it.

"Careful, she bites the hand that feeds." Sasuke snapped with a glare at the girl.

"Ah, stop!" Naruto exclaimed as Sakura opened her mouth to retort. The blond pulled his hand from her grip and waved them wildly. "My brain will explode!"

"Sorry." Both muttered, then glared at each other for having copied.

Naruto felt like stabbing himself with a kunai. This was freaking _ridiculous_!

* * *

(1) I have an older sister, and she's MEAN!!!! lol. (I'm joking. I live with her, and she can be evil sometimes, but eh, such is life) 


	8. Of Reunions and Breaks

**IMPORTANT: Okay, so, because of work, I've decided that it would be better if I stopped replying to reviews. I just find I spend more time replying to them than actually writing, which seems a little counter-productive. Everyone who's come this far with me _knows_ I appreciate all your reviews, and I _definitely_ read them. So even though I'll no longer be replying, I do appreciate them, so thanks in advance to anyone who will continue to review me. If you have a question or don't understand something, for sure I'll reply, but in general, I'm sorry, no more replies :( At least, not until school starts again and I have more free time (I never thought I'd ever say that...)**

**Also, I shall be away for the week due to the anime convention going on in Vancouver at SFU. I'm staying with a friend, and Rasengan22 is coming to visit XD YAY! So yeah, anyone going to AE at SFU, I'll be dressed as Genma and molesting people. Come find me ;)**

**Disclaimer: Too tired, not mine. K. Masashi's imagination far surpasses my own.**

* * *

Sasuke turned the corner in his father's car, heading down the street with a scowl on his face. He didn't want to do this, but it would just cause him more problems if he didn't. He wished he'd thought of picking Naruto up first, but then the bitch would've gone off on him and he didn't want to fight with her anymore. 

He pulled up at the end of the driveway, Sakura standing up from her porch steps and walking leisurely down the asphalt. Sasuke wanted to peel out, just to spite her, but he forced himself to take his foot off the gas, lest he give in to temptation.

She opened the passenger-side door and got in, slamming it before letting out a sigh. "I can't believe I have to be stuck in the car alone with _you_ for ten minutes."

"As if I like it any better." Sasuke muttered. "If I had my way, I'd have pretended I didn't know who you were if anyone asked why you weren't there. Not that anyone would."

"Sasuke." Sakura sighed, turning to look at him and putting one hand on his arm. The only reason Sasuke didn't jerk it away was because the car would've spun out of control. "I know you hate me because of my relationship with Naruto, and how he loves me more than he does you, but you're just going to have to accept that he isn't yours anymore. You've never come to terms with it, ever since we started dating. He isn't _yours_. You should be thankful I'm willing to share." She took her hand off his arm and flipped her hair behind her shoulder.

"You think you can keep him away from me?" Sasuke asked with a scoff, his hands tightening on the wheel.

"Oh, we both know I can. Some part of his mind still believes you killed him." She smirked at the raven, who scowled angrily at the road. "We're going to be in this for a long time, Sasuke. You and I have always competed for his attention, but he's a brick wall. He won't budge and give one of us more than the other, so we're going to have to deal with it, just like we've _always_ had to. Learn to put up with me, because I'm not going anywhere."

Sasuke thought that if he stopped the car, kicked Sakura out, and ran her over, he could _totally_ pass it off as an accident. She was walking to Naruto's house, he saw her, went to stop beside her and hit the gas instead of the brakes. See? Simple. An accident.

As more thoughts of 'accidents' went through his head, he pulled up into Naruto's driveway, the blond and his parents up near the garage. Naruto was in a wheelchair, and looked really annoyed by it, but there was nothing they could do about it. His leg muscles had deteriorated, so they needed a lot of work before he'd be able to walk again.

Sasuke had to admit, though, Naruto looked cute sitting in that chair with his arms crossed and a pout on his face. His father wheeled him forward as Minako opened the car door, standing beside it.

"Hello Sakura. Sasuke." Arashi said as he stopped the chair beside the open door. Naruto was still pouting.

"Oh, get over it, you'll be able to walk in no time." Sasuke insisted with a smirk as he twisted in his seat to look at the blond. "You're too stubborn to just sit there and not work at it."

"It's true, but still." Naruto muttered as his father got beside him and his mother moved to grab the back of the chair.

"You ready?"

"Yeah." The blond sighed and wrapped his arms around his father's neck. Arashi put one arm under his son's knees and across his shoulders, lifting him off the chair. Minako pulled the chair out from under Naruto quickly and Arashi manoeuvred Naruto into the back seat, moving away once he was sitting down again.

"You going to be able to help him out when you reach Kiba's?" Arashi asked Sasuke as Minako hit a button on the side of the wheelchair and folded it width-wise. Sasuke nodded to Arashi as he popped the trunk.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. The guy's been tube-fed for two years, and has _no_ muscle." He grinned at Naruto, whose mouth opened wide in insult. "He must weigh nothing."

"Actually, he's gained weight since he woke up, so he's pretty heavy." Arashi laughed. Naruto turned his insulted face towards his father.

"I don't know who to hit first!" Naruto exclaimed, pouting and crossing his arms again.

"Aw, does wittle Naruto need help buckling his wittle seatbelt?" Arashi asked as he pinched Naruto's cheek. The blond tried to bite his hand which just caused his father to laugh loudly, pulling away. Grumbling, Naruto buckled himself in, knowing how to do it now that he'd gone to the doctor's a few times.

He wished he remembered more about this world because it was frustrating having all these things he didn't understand, but he'd learned early on that he was a quick study. He'd memorized his biology book by reading it once, which he didn't understand, but his parents hadn't found surprising. He had a photographic memory, he just didn't know it because since waking up from his coma, he'd been forgetting a lot of things due to his brain still not completely functioning.

The trunk was slammed and Minako came to the door. "Okay, call us if you need anything, and make sure you all let us know when you'll be back." She looked at Sakura and Sasuke.

"I don't expect we'll be too late, but it depends on whether or not they want to hear about Naruto's world." Sakura smiled. "If they do, we may be there a while."

"Well, call me if you're not going to make supper, all right?" She kissed Naruto's cheek and he winced slightly. He still wasn't completely used to having parents.

"Have a good one." Arashi waved as Minako slammed the door. Sasuke pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street to Kiba's house.

"How have you been, Naruto?" Sakura turned in her seat and smiled warmly.

"Not much different from yesterday." Naruto laughed slightly. He'd seen Sakura every day since he woke up, except that one day where she'd been at the doctor's, so it was weird when she asked him how he was. She _knew_.

"That's good. Getting used to things here?"

"Yeah." The blond shrugged. "Miss the ramen, but my parents fed me something called pizza. It was good." He grinned.

"Well, makes sense. Pizza used to be your favourite food." Sasuke commented.

"Um, reality check, Sasuke, it was steak." Sakura rolled her eyes.

Sasuke was about to retort when he forced himself not to. He just clenched the wheel tightly, imagining it was Sakura's neck. If he showed that he was making an effort, then maybe Naruto would deviate towards him more. He even glanced in the rear-view mirror to look at Naruto, and caught the blond's bright blue eyes staring right at him. He averted his gaze back to the road and Sasuke did the same.

"How long until we get there?" Naruto inquired.

"Not long, about ten minutes or so." Sasuke replied.

"Oh," was his reply.

Those ten minutes were spent in silence, Sasuke casting glances at Naruto every once in a while. The blond looked nervous, alternating between rubbing his face and biting his nails. He ended up wringing his hands together as Sasuke parked the car outside a large house. There were two or three other cars parked along the street, and something told Naruto they were the cars of his friends.

"I don't know if I want to do this." he whispered as he leaned forward so he was practically poking his head between the two front seats.

Sasuke opened his mouth to reassure him, but the _bitch_ beside him beat him to it, turning in her seat and smiling warmly.

"Don't worry, baby, I'll be right here."

Sasuke growled, his hands tightening around the steering wheel. "Kiba and the others wanted to see you, they'll be disappointed if you bail on them now."

"What if I don't remember someone?" Naruto looked panicked.

"Don't worry." Sakura kissed his cheek before exiting the car. Sasuke popped the trunk when she slammed her door, giving her something to do while he talked to Naruto.

"Hey." Sasuke practically barked, causing Naruto to jump. Sasuke winced, softening his voice. "If you forget someone—so what? It's not the end of the world, they all know you were in a coma. You kept insisting I'd killed you, and _I'm_ still here for you." He smirked, Naruto forcing a weak smile.

"I guess."

"What do you _mean_ 'you guess'? Damn, dobe, be a man!" Sasuke slugged him in the arm before exiting the car. He applauded himself for having remembered the pet-name Naruto's Sasuke had given him. He liked trying to find ways to mix the two worlds, he figured it would make the transition easier.

And it worked, because to Naruto, being teased by Sasuke helped a bit. It made him feel like this was a competition, and the Uchiha was challenging him. Naruto was more than willing to take him up that challenge.

_It's so weird. Some things from—my world are very similar to my real life, while others are completely different._ It _was_ odd when he thought about it. Sasuke and himself seemed to have the exact same relationship, yet Sakura was dating _him_, and she and the Uchiha despised each other. It made him wonder why _he_, in his own mind, made Sakura hate him. Maybe that was what he wanted in his real life? Maybe he _wanted_ the rosette to hate him? But then why make her like Sasuke in his dream-world?

_To be jealous?_ he mused as he heard Sakura and Sasuke arguing about the wheelchair outside. _Jealous of Sasuke for getting what I want? But why would I care? I mean—as far as I can tell, __**this**__ me doesn't care about anything like that. Sasuke and I are like brothers or something, sharing everything and acting like as long as the other's happy, we're content. Gah, I don't get it!_ Naruto rubbed his head furiously with both hands, irritated to no end. This was so frustrating.

He jumped as the door beside him opened and Sasuke poked his head in with a grin. "You ready? I can't promise I won't drop you, just to let you know."

Naruto forced a smile, Sasuke's face dangerously close to his. He then realized the raven was going to _carry_ him. _Oh God, someone up there hates me!_

"Um, you know, I can probably get into the chair myself." Naruto insisted.

"No way, if you fall and hit your head, your mum will murder me. Come on." Sasuke leaned even closer, snaking one arm around the blond's shoulders and getting the other under his knees.

Throttling a blush, Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck and let him lift him out of the car. The chair was pushed forward quickly and Sasuke placed Naruto onto it before standing and stretching.

"That was a good workout." he teased as Sakura moved the chair away from the car and headed up the driveway. Sasuke slammed the door and locked it before rushing after her. He noticed that there was a wooden plank on the porch steps and figured Kiba _had_ been listening when he'd called the day before to tell him about Naruto's chair.

Sakura pushed him up towards the door and then stopped, her finger hovering over the doorbell. Just as she was about to push it, the door slammed open.

"Naruto!" The blond thought his chair was going to go toppling backwards as someone slammed into him, hugging him tightly while jerking him almost violently from side to side, causing the chair to rock. "Holy shit, dude! You're back! You're alive! Dude! This is so fucking sweet!"

"Kiba, can _we_ have a turn?" Yamanaka Ino's annoyed voice demanded.

The other boy didn't get the chance to answer, because Kiba was wrenched away from Naruto and someone else crushed the blond to his chest. The person holding him had a death-grip, and was shaking as he did so, almost unable to believe it was real, that Naruto was _really_ back.

"Don't ever do that again." he whispered, finally giving Naruto a clue of who he was.

"S-Sai?"

Nobody moved as he continued to hug Naruto. Sasuke may have been his best friend, but Sai was his oldest childhood friend. The two of them had always had different interests, but they were still really close, and always would be.

"I swear, Uzumaki, if you _ever_ do that to me again, I'll kick your nuts into your brain." Naruto couldn't help it. He laughed, shaking his head, and patting Sai on the back.

"Trust me, I'm sure it was not my intention to end up in a coma." he reassured him. "But I'm sure your threat will dissuade my brain from ever shutting down like that again."

"Good." Sai finally pulled away before slugging Naruto in the arm. "Welcome home, you damn prissy woman."

"Me? A woman?" Naruto laughed. "_You're_ the one who got all emotional." He grinned.

"Christ." Both turned to Ino as she rolled her eyes. "Naruto doesn't even remember Sai and _already_ the two of them are back to normal."

"Well, I know him. That is to say, all of you played some kind of part in my—um..." He _still_ wasn't sure what to call it. A dream? An alternate life? How _did_ one describe what he'd experienced?

"Hey, hey, don't give yourself a migraine, dumbass. We get what you mean." Kiba grinned, punching him jokingly in the arm.

"Why does everyone abuse me?" Naruto pretended to pout. "Sasuke hit me in the car, Sai hit me two minutes ago, and now you? Anyone _else_?"

"Me, me, me!" Ino waved her hand in the air before she laughed. "Come here, you goof." She pushed past the other two and hugged Naruto with a laugh. The boy smiled as he hugged her back. "God, it's so good to see you awake again."

"Thanks, I guess." He laughed as she pulled away.

"We're still missing a few people, but they should be around soon. Shikamaru was too lazy to wake up early, so he'll show up whenever. Neji and Hinata were forced to go to a baptism, so they'll be a while, but Neji said you couldn't start until he got here."

"Start what?" Naruto asked Kiba, confused.

"Duh, your story about your own little world that was so awesome you didn't want to come back." Kiba rubbed his knuckles hard against the blond's head, Naruto wincing in pain.

"Okay, enough with the abuse." Sakura pushed Kiba away with a glare.

"Why is the bitch here again?" Ino asked with a sigh, crossing her arms.

"Shove it, slut."

"What did you call me?" Ino took a step forward, but Sai grabbed her arm to stop her from going any further.

"You heard me. You're only popular 'cause you get around." Sakura smirked.

"You take that back, you _fucking_ bitch!" Sai had to physically hold Ino back, now. "You're the one who cheated on Naruto while he was in a coma!"

The blond himself was rubbing his temples in exasperation.

"That's none of your business!" Sakura shrieked.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted loudly, everyone stopping to look at him. "Is this how my life always was? Cause if so, I wanna go back to my nice peaceful solitude."

"Don't say that." Sakura bent down to hug him from behind. "We're sorry. This group just never hangs out together."

"No, we just never hang out with _you_." Kiba insisted.

"Guys." Sai snapped, everyone shutting up before another fight started. He looked at Naruto, smiling kindly as he continued to hold Ino back, who was glaring at Sakura. "I'm in university, so I don't hang out with you guys as much, but when I was in high school, we were all a group, except Sakura. She's part of her own group with Zaku and Kin and them."

"The Sound nins?" Naruto asked aloud to no one in particular, an odd look crossing his face. _I'm dating someone who hangs out with people who, in my world, are Sound nins?_

"Huh?" Sakura asked, confused. He still hadn't gotten to the Chuunin exams yet in his story-telling.

"Nothing." Naruto insisted, rubbing the back of his head.

"But, yeah, she's your girlfriend, so we can't really exclude her, you know?" Sai smiled. "We're still two different groups, though. She's the only one from another group who's your friend."

"Well, Ino's kind of different, too." Kiba motioned Ino. "Cause she's popular and all, but she still hangs with us a lot."

"So basically..." Naruto trailed off for a few seconds. "There's tons of different groups in our school and I kind of have them mixing and matching?" he asked with a confused frown.

"Pretty much." Sai smiled. "But hey, what are we all standing out here for? Let's go inside."

Sai pulled Ino into the house, Sakura following, pushing Naruto's chair. Kiba stood on the porch a second longer, leaning close to Sasuke. "We need to get him to break it off with her, this is fucking ridiculous, dude."

"No kidding." Sasuke grumbled.

* * *

Sasuke grunted slightly as he put Naruto into the backseat of his car, stretching slightly as he moved away, Sakura trying to fold the chair again. 

"Sasuke, can you put the chair away, please? I want to talk to Sakura." Naruto said. The raven cocked an eyebrow but shrugged, moving to tell Sakura to get into the car. The rosette did so with a smile, turning in her seat after slamming the door and looking at Naruto.

"What's up, babe?"

"Um..." Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a wince. "This is going to be really awkward, and—I'm going to feel really bad saying it, but I think we should take a break."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. "A break?"

"Well, you know, in my world, you hated me at first, and then we just became really good friends, so it's weird to go from that to this in one night." Naruto felt _really_ bad saying this, but he really couldn't deal with this right now. "And since I woke up, I haven't really understood everything that's going on around me, so I think that if we took a break for a while, it would be really helpful for me."

"A break?" Sakura repeated bitterly.

"Yeah, just for a little while. I'm not saying, like, a year or anything, just a couple of weeks. You know, until I get used to everything."

"I _waited_ for you, and now you want a fucking _break_?!" Sakura spat angrily, causing Naruto to pale.

"Sakura, I'm sorry." Naruto felt even _worse_, now. "You just have to understand, this is difficult for me."

"No, I _don't_ understand!" she shrieked. "This is about Sasuke, isn't it?!"

"What? No!" Naruto insisted. "This has nothing to _do_ with Sasuke!" He was starting to panic. Why was Sakura getting so mad? He wasn't breaking up with her, he just wanted to have a little break.

"It _does_ have to do with Sasuke." Sakura accused. "It's _always_ all about Sasuke! Why is he so _fucking **special**_?!"

"Sakura, that's not—"

"Forget it." she cut the blond off, hate filling her eyes. "Find yourself another girlfriend, we're over!" She threw open the car door.

"Sakura, wait!" It was slammed before Naruto could say anything else.

The rosette stormed down the driveway, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket and calling Zaku to come and pick her up. Sasuke just watched her go, confused. He opened the driver's side door and poked his head in, seeing Naruto rubbing his face.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, I don't want to talk about it." Naruto whispered.

Sasuke sat down and buckled himself in before starting the car and sighing. "You broke up with her, didn't you?"

"You were listening?" Naruto accused him. The raven shook his head.

"No, it's just obvious." Sasuke headed back for the blond's house. "I'm sorry."

"No you're not." Naruto snorted. "And besides, I didn't break up with her, she broke up with me." He sighed. "I asked for a break, you know, so I can get used to being back and everything, and she took it badly and just—ended it."

"You don't sound too upset." Sasuke commented.

"Well, we were always just friends in my world, so it's not like it hurts for her to not be with me, but I'm upset that this seems to mean she won't be my friend anymore." He sighed. "She was always there, you know? It's gonna be weird."

Sasuke didn't know what to say. He hated Sakura, so he couldn't genuinely feel sorry that she was gone, and he couldn't reassure Naruto because he was _glad_. He decided it would be best to just stay quiet. Besides, Sasuke knew why she'd ended it. To her, it had never been about actually liking Naruto. She thought he was hot, and she hated Sasuke. Dating Naruto was like a competition with the Uchiha. It was a way to see who Naruto preferred between the two of them, and by asking Sakura for a break, to the girl, it was like Sasuke had won. So, she just decided to call it quits.

"Don't worry about it, there are plenty of fish in the sea." Sasuke would be lying if he said he was upset that Naruto was single. It meant he'd be able to spend more alone time with him, just like how it used to be before Sakura showed up.

"I've already got someone in mind." Naruto admitted quietly, which caused Sasuke to glance at him in the rearview mirror. The blond was avoiding his gaze.

"Really? Who's that, Ino?"

"You'll never guess, so don't bother." Naruto leaned back in his seat and looked out the window.

"Come on, I'm your best friend! Tell me." Sasuke insisted.

"Maybe later."

The raven just left it at that. He still felt like he needed to earn Naruto's trust, so he wasn't going to push it. Now that Sakura was gone, though, he'd have more time to prove to Naruto that he wasn't a bad person.

"How come Gaara wasn't there?"

Sasuke blinked, wondering if he'd heard right. He stopped at a red light and turned to look at Naruto.

"Gaara? Why would he have been?"

"He's not our friend?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Uh, no. He's a suicidal loser. Nobody likes him. Shikamaru has a thing for his sister Temari, and Kiba and Kankurou have labs together and get along pretty well, but Gaara's a freak. No one hangs out with him."

"Oh." Naruto felt his heart clench at that. Even in the real world, Gaara was hated. He felt guilty for not having tried harder before his coma to get close to the redhead. He figured maybe his dream was showing him things he hadn't known before. Sakura and him being friends could show that they weren't meant to be together, him becoming friends with Gaara could show that was what he needed to do, or Gaara was going to die.

Naruto thought back to after Chiyo had brought Gaara back to life, and he'd been the first thing the redhead had seen. Did that mean that Gaara was going to kill himself, and Naruto was the only thing that would stop him?

_I think I'm reading too much into this, it was only a dream. But still, it couldn't hurt to be nice to him. He deserves it. Gaara's a good guy._

The blond looked up as he noticed they'd stopped, and saw his house. He was home. It hadn't taken as long as he'd thought it would. Sasuke got out of the car and slammed the door. He ran up to the front door and rang the doorbell before trotting back to the car and opening the trunk.

When the door opened, Minako called back into the house and walked out to open Naruto's door as Sasuke fiddled with the wheelchair.

"Hey, sweetie." She kissed the blond's cheek. "Where's Sakura?"

"She walked." Sasuke replied as he got the chair beside the blond's door.

"At this hour?"

"She broke up with me." Naruto informed with a shrug. "I asked for time off and she flipped out, so—I hope we can still be friends and stuff."

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry." Minako said apologetically as Arashi appeared.

"It's okay. Not that big of a deal." He shrugged. "When am I going back to school?"

"Well, your father and I have called a tutor for you to get you back up to date. We'll let you back as soon as possible."

"I'll be walking before then." Naruto grinned. Sasuke laughed.

"Yeah, right." he teased, but honestly, he really hoped the blond got back on his feet soon. To see someone as energetic as Naruto in a wheelchair was a burn, and the sooner the blond got back on his feet, the better.

* * *

**A.N: Blah, short chapter and not much happened... sorry y'all waited so long for this piece of crap :(**


	9. Of Physiotherapy

**AN: So, AE was awesome. Met tons of new people, ate almost nothing, didn't really sleep, had Rasengan22 down here, and... yeah, it was good times. Now I need to remember I'm NOT Genma, and we'll be good. To people I met, sorry I wasn't very perverted, but I was really tired on all days but the first -sweatdrop- Two hours of sleep will do that to you.**

**Also, SAI! WHERE IS MY EMAIL WITH THE PICTURES?! T.T you lied to me! **

**Disclaimer: Genma owns them all, muahaha. And by Genma, I mean K. Masashi.**

* * *

"I don't see why I need to go to a physiotherapist to learn how to walk; I can just do it myself." Naruto insisted as he allowed himself to be wheeled down the corridor, his arms crossed. 

"Stop being a brat, this is good for you. It'll help you get back on your feet." Sasuke insisted.

"Thanks again for coming with me, Sasuke." Minako said with a smile. "There's no way I'd have been able to get Naruto in and out of the car by myself."

"Not a problem." Sasuke reassured her. "He _is_ getting fat, isn't he?"

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed angrily as he put his hands on the wheels of the chair, forcing it to stop. Sasuke just cocked an eyebrow. "I'll have you know, I am _not_ fat! I'm a ninja!"

"Sure you are." Sasuke grinned.

"Dammit, you're just as annoying now as you were in my dream!" Naruto grumbled as he moved his hands and allowed Sasuke to continue wheeling him down the corridor. They stopped outside a glass door and Minako opened it, Sasuke pushing them inside.

"Hello, Naruto." a woman Naruto didn't recognize said from behind a counter. "Dr. Yamato will be with you shortly."

"Yamato?" Naruto asked. "As in, Yamato Tenzou?!"

"You remember him?" Minako asked as she and Sasuke sat down in the waiting room, Naruto in front of them.

"Uh, sort of." Naruto chuckled. "When Kakashi-sensei was in the hospital, Yamato-sensei took over Team Seven for a while. I haven't gotten that far in my story yet, but it's near the end, so that would be why. How do I know him here?"

"You blew out your knee the year you went into your coma." Sasuke informed him. "You were playing soccer and someone on the opposite team pretty much shattered your kneecap. Well, he didn't, or you wouldn't be able to walk _ever_, but he messed it up pretty bad, so you had to come here for some physio."

"You were here before, though. Always hurting yourself." Minako laughed slightly, shaking her head. "Yamato must've lived off our paychecks alone you were here so often."

"That's actually quite accurate." They all turned and saw Yamato walking out from the office with a smile. "Hello, Naruto. Good to see you're awake again. I heard about you from Tsunade."

"How do you know her?" Naruto asked, confused.

"She's the one who helped me set up my business." He smiled as he bent down in front of the blond.

"Which means he should treat us for free." Minako teased. Yamato just laughed as he grabbed Naruto's left leg and started massaging it. "Hm, muscles are pretty badly deteriorated, but I give him about a month and a half."

"I read it took almost six months before people were back on their feet." Sasuke insisted.

"This is Naruto." the doctor reminded the raven as he stood up. "We're lucky he's stayed in that chair so long."

"I caught him trying to get out of bed this morning." Minako agreed. Naruto pouted and crossed his arms.

"I would've made it, too. Just two more minutes, but _no_."

"You would've fallen over, hit your head on your desk, and then gone unconscious again. Do you _really_ want to put your mother through all that pain again?" Yamato asked as he stood up.

"I would've made it."

"Do you _really_ want to put your mother through all that pain again?" Yamato repeated with a dark look in his eyes. Naruto stared at him wide-eyed. Yamato looked exactly the same as in his dream world! _Damn, these people are actually this crazy?!_ Naruto thought with a nervous laugh.

"I guess I shouldn't try that again, then."

"Good idea." Yamato was back to smiling jovially, talking to Naruto's mother over the blond's shoulder as Sasuke just snickered.

"What?" Naruto glared.

"Works on you every time. I should ask him how he does it, I'd love to have that much control over you." Sasuke grinned.

"Yeah? Well maybe I'll learn it first and get control over _you_." Naruto grinned, and then paled as he realized what kind of implications their banter was giving him. He blushed and looked back at Yamato, trying to take the image of a begging Sasuke out of his head.

He hated that his crush from the dream world had transferred into the real world. If Sasuke was still an asshole, after having been 'killed' by him, Naruto probably would have gotten over his crush. But this Sasuke was almost _better_ than his dream Sasuke.

This Sasuke visited every day for two years. He was his best friend, he treated him like a human being, he liked spending time with him. He was toned, he was sexy, and God dammit, he _had_ to be well-endowed because his hands and feet were pretty damn big. That, and he cared. He cared about Naruto in a way the blond could only hope his dream Sasuke had cared about him. He was almost scared he was going to wake up and find out all of _this_ was the dream, and Sasuke was still the jerk who'd left them to go to Orochimaru, and he was still the guy who'd thrust his fist through Naruto's chest.

"Naruto." The blond jumped and turned to look at Yamato. His mother and Sasuke were also looking at him, concerned. "Everything all right?"

"Fine. Sorry, I was just thinking about my dreamworld." Naruto laughed slightly.

"It can't be easy." Yamato sighed. "Waking up and finding out everything you were sure was real isn't. I bet you're still wondering if this is the real world, huh?"

"I hope it is." Naruto smiled weakly. "It's much better than my dream world, to be honest."

"Fair enough." Yamato smiled. "Come on, let's get you started on your physio. We'll see how far we can get you today, and hopefully we'll have you on the crutches soon." Yamato smiled to Minako and Sasuke as he wheeled the blond into his office and closed the door.

* * *

The doorbell rang in the Uzumaki household, Minako padding towards the front door and opening it. She smiled brightly at the person on the other side. 

"Hello, Neji. How are you?"

"I'm well, Mrs. Uzumaki, and yourself?" he inquired politely as he stood on the front porch.

"I'm good." She smiled.

"I'm glad to hear it. Is Naruto in?"

"He is. In fact, he just finished his tutoring session. I believe he's in the living room." She moved aside and motioned for Neji to enter, the boy nodding to her politely as he did so. He walked past her to the living room and did, in fact, find Naruto there, in front of the television. He kept frowning at it, as if annoyed, and Neji suspected it had something to do with the ninja movie he was watching.

"Something displeases you?"

Naruto jumped, turning in his wheelchair to look at Neji. "Jesus! No matter the world, you're still the master of sneaking up on me!" The blond muted the television and turned his wheelchair around to face the Hyuuga. "What's up, Neji?"

"Apparently, your heart-rate." The boy grinned. Naruto glared at him. "But I digress. I just came by to speak with you. I'm class president, and one of your closest friends, so I thought I would extend you the courtesy of asking if you have any questions about school. You'll be returning in three weeks or so, your mother informed me the other day. Do you feel ready?"

Naruto didn't answer. He was just staring at Neji with an odd look on his face. The Hyuuga suspected he knew why, and blushed.

"What?"

"Did you always talk like that?"

Neji chuckled, his assumption right, and shook his head. "No. Especially not the last time you saw me. I have to be careful of what I say in front of Kiba, lest he remember I am a prep." Naruto cocked an eyebrow and Neji smirked, figuring this was as good a place as any to begin.

"You're an interesting person, Naruto. All of us who are friends—it never would have happened without you. All of us are from different worlds, so to speak, but by befriending us, you brought us together, which in and of itself, is a feat." Naruto cocked his head to the side.

"Really? How come?"

"Schools are really—particular. You have your groups, and you don't deviate from them, but you did. You met all of us one way or another, and now we're all friends."

"Tell me." Naruto's eyes sparkled and Neji saw a bit of the old Naruto in there.

"All right. Well, first, let's begin with me. I'm a prep, which means sort of high-class in school terms. I'm always clean cut, I speak—well, you know." He smiled. "I also get top grades in all the classes I'm in. We met because you and I were always neck and neck for the highest grade in the class. I pushed past you every time, but you were always only one point behind me."

Naruto had to wonder about this school and its ability to teach if _he_ was as smart as _Neji_. He kept that to himself, though. Maybe Neji was just trying to boost his ego, since he _obviously_ didn't know that Naruto was _not_ smart.

"So, that's how we met. You and Sasuke met through Sai, and you've known Sai since you were children because both your fathers were friends. You and Sasuke are both gamers—which is mostly his fault for influencing you—and you met Kiba in the lineup for the Final Fantasy VII game when it first came out. He went to the same school as you two, so you started hanging out with him. Ino is obvious, you're both popular and into sports, so you hit it off right away. Shikamaru is a genius, but he's so lazy most people class him as a loser, but he's actually more in the nerd category. I'd like to place you more in a jock kind of category, but that's not what you are. You're hard to class." Neji admitted.

"What group is Gaara in?" Naruto asked.

Neji's eyebrow arched ever so slowly. "Sabaku Gaara? Loner emo-freak? He's in the loser's group. Well, loner, I guess, since he's always alone. He's a freak, for lack of a better term."

Naruto bit his lip as he thought about everything Neji had said. If he got all those different groups together, couldn't he add Gaara? The boy could use some friends, Naruto was sure of it. _Especially if he's like __**my**__ Gaara._ Naruto really wanted to go to school so he could meet the redhead. He hated the thought of someone he'd dreamed about as such a close friend being alone.

The blond was starting to like the fact that he'd fallen into a coma, because it was like his subconscious mind was telling him things he was meant to do. Everything he'd dreamed seemed to have a kind of purpose in his real life, like his friendship with Sakura, his love for Sasuke, his friendship with Gaara, everything. The only thing he couldn't figure out was Sasuke's betrayal of him. Did that mean that if Naruto admitted to Sasuke how he really felt...

* * *

Yamato wheeled Naruto up to a set of parallel wooden bars and stopped, putting his hands on the blond's shoulders. 

"Well, Naruto, are you ready for more physio?"

"I'm ready to _walk_ again." Naruto muttered. "This whole chair thing is getting annoying."

"Okay, then. Can you get on your feet by yourself?" Yamato asked as he grabbed the handles for the chair.

"Probably, if I use my arms." Naruto reached out and grabbed the two bars on either side of him, lifting himself up with a grunt. Most of his weight was supported by his arms as he got his legs to move. His feet hit the floor, his knees shaking as he gently put weight on his legs.

Yamato pushed the chair out of the way, standing close behind Naruto with his hands hovering on either side of the blond. "Good. Good; can you put more weight on your legs?"

Naruto grunted a reply as his arms started shaking from the strain. He put more weight and his knees buckled. Yamato grabbed him around the waist, holding Naruto up as he struggled to get his legs to support him.

"Fuck!"

"Calm down, Naruto, these things take time." Yamato insisted as the blond got himself balanced once again.

"This sucks! Why can't I just walk?!"

"Naruto, I don't think you even realize how far you've come. Most coma patients wouldn't be able to stand up by themselves until about a month and a half after waking up. You've succeeded in only two short weeks! You'll be on crutches in no time, and after that, you'll be back on your feet with no help at all." Yamato said encouragingly as he let the blond go.

Naruto was panting, his face red and sweat trickling down from his brow. He let out a grunt and his left foot moved forward. He pushed it forward more than having actually lifted it up and placed it down, but it was better than nothing.

"See? You're that much closer to the crutches. You always were strong-willed. Come on!" The physiotherapist smiled behind Naruto as the teenager took another step forward. He had always been impressed with how fast Naruto got past obstacles, but the boy was so determined now, it was ridiculous.

"Can I... ask you... something?" Naruto panted out as he struggled to take another step.

"If you don't die from lack of oxygen, go for it."

"Do you... like trees? Or wood?" Naruto asked.

"As a matter of fact, I have a greenhouse in my backyard, as well as an apple tree and an orange tree. Why, you want to be a botanist?" The man chuckled.

"No. Just... asking." Naruto got to the end of the parallel bars and Yamato stopped behind him. The blond's feet were turning but he couldn't get his legs to support him long enough to turn around.

After a few seconds, his knees gave out again, but as Yamato went to catch him, Naruto screamed "No!" and then his knees hit the floor. He cried out slightly, breathing hard, one hand on either bar with Yamato behind him, his hands still out. He could've caught Naruto, but who was he to stop the other's progress? If Naruto wanted to bruise his knees until he could walk, Yamato had no right to stop him.

"You need help?" he asked, even though he knew the answer.

"No." Naruto shook his head. "I can do it." He took a few deep breaths, feeling his heart pounding in his head. He shifted, still on his knees, and grabbed the bar on the right with both hands. Grunting, he struggled to pull himself back up, his legs shaking as he got his feet back on the ground. He used all the muscles he had in his arms to lift himself up completely, quickly shifting one hand to the other bar once he was on his feet. He looked up, panting, Yamato smiling at him as he stood with his arms crossed.

"Good job, kid. Come back this way and we'll do some leg exercises."

Naruto nodded and forced his feet to shuffle forward. It was a slow process, but Yamato had never seen anything like it. Naruto was in a two-year coma, and a mere two weeks after having woken up, he could already walk, to a certain degree. The only other person who'd come anywhere close to Naruto was three weeks and two days. _Then again, this __**is**__ Naruto. I shouldn't be surprised._ Yamato chuckled silently. He still remembered a day where Naruto had hobbled in with a blown out knee. Four days later, and the blond was playing in the soccer championships. Naruto just couldn't stay down.

The blond reached the end of the parallel bars and Yamato grabbed his wheelchair to bring him across the room so he could work his muscles. Naruto took one look at the chair before locking eyes with Yamato.

"No."

The physiotherapist's eyebrow rose ever so slightly. "No?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Don't bother doing those freaky eyes, my answer is no." Naruto went as if to cross his arms before he remembered he needed them to stay standing.

Yamato chuckled slightly, shaking his head. Naruto _definitely_ wasn't ready to walk on his own, but...

* * *

Sasuke yawned as he sat in the waiting room of the physio office, bored. He started drumming his fingers against the arm-rest of his chair as he watched the second hand go around and around on the clock. He checked his watch for the time, as if not even noticing he'd just been staring at a clock, and then looked back up at it, still watching the second hand. 

Minako had gone to try and get her job back at the newspaper she worked at before Naruto's accident. With her busy and Arashi working, Sasuke had offered to drive Naruto to Yamato's, though belatedly, he realized he should have brought a book. He usually came with Minako, and thus had someone to talk to, so he'd never had to bring anything before. There had been a few times where he'd come alone with Naruto, but Yamato had let him inside the room, the two teenagers making fun of each other while Naruto fixed whatever he'd messed up.

Yamato had said that since this was more serious, he didn't think it would be fair for Sasuke to see Naruto working so hard. So, Sasuke had been forced to wait outside, and he was ready to murder someone, he was so bored.

The door opened and Sasuke had to force himself not to shout "Finally!"

"You did well today, Naruto. I'll see you again in two days. Don't overwork yourself." Yamato smiled at the blond. He was still blocked by the door and Sasuke stood up to help wheel him out. He froze as he saw Naruto walking out slowly with the help of crutches. The blond grinned at Sasuke's reaction as he hobbled towards him.

"He's stubborn, I couldn't say no." Yamato smiled, leaning against the doorframe.

"So, does this mean he'll be able to go to school?" Sasuke asked as Naruto stopped beside him, his legs shaking slightly. Yamato's answer was just to point at the blond's wobbly knees.

"Not until he's steady, and it depends on his mother, as well. He might not know enough to go back to school yet."

"I guess." Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"You guys just wait! I'll be back on my feet in no time!"

"Don't overdo it, Naruto." Yamato warned as the blond hobbled towards the exit.

"Yeah, yeah." the teenager insisted when Yamato appeared in front of him.

"_Don't_ overdo it." Yamato gave him the eyes.

"Okay." Naruto squeaked, shrinking back. The physiotherapist's look softened and he smiled.

"Don't forget to do your leg exercises. Sasuke can help you with them."

Naruto's face started to heat up as he pictured Sasuke helping him. Some of the positions were really... Well, they would be bad to do with someone Naruto liked.

"No!" Naruto blurted out, hoping he wasn't blushing as badly as he felt like he was.

"Why not? Your mother won't be strong enough and your father isn't home enough." Yamato put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "You'll help Naruto out, right?"

"Sure." Sasuke shrugged.

"Great." Yamato grinned at Naruto. "Have fun—but not _too_ much fun."

Looking at the grin on Yamato's face, Naruto couldn't help but think the man knew more than he was letting on.

* * *

Naruto sat in the passenger seat of Sasuke's car, staring up at the Uchiha's house. He looked at Sasuke, then back at the house, feeling all the blood beginning to drain from his face. He swallowed hard. 

"You're kidding, right?"

"My family really wants to see you." Sasuke insisted, getting a little concerned with the paleness of Naruto's face. "I don't know why you're so scared of Itachi, but I promise you, he's a good guy. He won't try and hurt you, or anything."

Naruto just continued to stare at the house, wincing slightly every time he saw a shadow pass in front of one of the windows. How could Sasuke's parents be home already? It was only six. This had to be a trick. Itachi had probably threatened Sasuke, forcing him to bring Naruto over.

Naruto shook his head. _You're being stupid! This isn't Akatsuki Itachi! This isn't my world anymore, people __**aren't**_ _out to get me! Calm down and just go inside._ Taking a deep, calming breath, he nodded and opened his door, pulling his crutches out of the car and pushing himself to his feet, with some difficulty.

Sasuke made no move to help him, knowing Naruto would yell at him for it. Even though Naruto had changed, some things had remained the same, and one of those things was the blond's stubbornness.

He walked to the front of the car and waited for Naruto to hobble towards him, looking very similar to a duck, in the raven's opinion. He chuckled at the mental image of a duck Naruto, but decided to keep that to himself. He didn't think Naruto would appreciate the humour as much as he did.

Once the blond reached him, Sasuke led the way slowly towards the door, keeping in step with Naruto. He watched the other climb the stairs to the porch before he unlocked and opened the door.

"I'm home." he called as he moved out of the way to let Naruto in. "And I brought company!"

Naruto didn't know what he expected after the door was closed behind him. Itachi flying down the stairs with a kunai? Sasuke stabbing him? The parents discovered dead with Itachi standing over them?

It just occurred to Naruto why he had created such an elaborate dreamworld—he had a remarkable imagination.

Once his mind stopped coming up with scenarios, a woman appeared in the kitchen doorway, wiping her hands on a towel. Naruto was stunned to realize that, even though he'd never seen Sasuke's parents in his dreamworld, he recognized this woman. It made him feel bad that he didn't recognize his own mother. At least he'd recognized his father.

Mikoto smiled at him, putting the towel down beside the kitchen door—Naruto assumed there was a table or a counter.

"Naruto." She smiled. She rushed towards him with her arms outstretched and hugged him once she reached him. "Forgive me, but it's just so good to see you." She pulled away and put her hands lightly on his shoulders. "Oh, you look so good. And on your feet, already. Not surprising, you _are_ Naruto."

The blond laughed slightly. "Thanks. You'll be happy to know you must have made an impression on me, because even though I've never seen you before in my dreamworld, I recognized you the second you walked out of the kitchen."

"Oh, such a lady's man." Mikoto smiled. "Sasuke, you'd do well to learn from Naruto."

"What, go blind and make stuff up to compliment you when it's not true?" He smirked. Mikoto swiped at him, but he dodged it with a laugh.

"Fugaku's not here yet, honey, but be sure you stay to see him. In fact, why don't you stay for dinner? I'll go give your mother a call." She rushed back to the kitchen to do just that.

"Um... sure?" Naruto said slowly, the woman having already disappeared. Sasuke laughed, patting Naruto's shoulder.

"Once her mind is made up, it's pretty much impossible to change it. Come on, let's go up to my room." Sasuke led the way to the stairs, Naruto slowly making his way after him. He climbed them slowly, feeling his legs wobble dangerously, but he managed to make it to the top safely. Sasuke smirked at him, unwilling to voice that he had been impressed.

Itachi's door opened, and Sasuke cocked an eyebrow as the elder Uchiha didn't step out.

"Can you please make sure Naruto doesn't fall down the stairs or anything before I come out."

Sasuke laughed, moving beside Naruto and blocking the stairs. "Okay."

Itachi walked out of the room, his face just as expressionless as always. All the colour had already drained from Naruto's face, Itachi chuckling slightly at the wide-eyed look he was getting. He took his glasses off his nose, folding them and tucking one of the ends into his shirt so they hung from his collar. He only needed them to read.

"Sasuke tells me you're afraid of me, which I find insanely funny considering you used to wrestle with me and insult me. Hope you haven't lost your spunk." He patted Naruto's shoulder, the blond wincing. Itachi cocked an eyebrow. "Wow, how scary _was_ I? You're my brother's best friend, you're one of the only people lucky enough not to have to worry about me." He moved beside Naruto and wrapped his arm around the blond's shoulders lightly, so as not to put more weight on the boy's legs.

"Come on, let's go play some video games. Maybe getting your ass kicked by me will refresh your memory." He led Naruto towards his room. Sasuke smiled as he followed.

* * *

**AN: Yes, the Physio went fast, but there's only so much you can talk about when someone is trying to relearn how to walk...**


	10. Of School and Losers

**AN: To everyone asking, yes, I have read chapter 367, however, I don't like putting massive spoilers in my fics (except if it's by accident, which I've done before, and I'm sorry) so for that reason, I am not going to be doing any changes with this fic or any of my others until that chapter has come out in anime form (Holy crap, that'll be a while...) But yes, I know :) As for where certain people are (ie, Chouji, Lee, etc) I can't really fit **_**everyone**_** into this fic so, yes, I did have to cut some people out who aren't going to be playing a major role, so, sorry -sweatdrop- At least I kept Gaara! ...Not that he'd ever be someone I would cut, haha. **

**Also, thanks to everyone who caught my "Makoto" mistake -sweatdrop- I hadn't written about her for so long I couldn't remember what her name was -sweatdrop-**

**AE post: http (colon) (slash slash) ffw-sarge (dot) livejournal (dot) com. (look for the AE '07 post)**

**And apparently, I lost a fan because they were offended with the characters I killed off in one of my fics... I have to admit, that was one of the oddest reviews ever, but I'm sorry that you were so upset about it... (Why am I writing this here, the person doesn't read my stuff anymore... lol)**

**EDIT:  
WARNING: I'm getting annoyed with getting chewed out for HAVING this comment here and for NOT having it here. Sakura says "fag" in this chapter, I find it unacceptable, you can, too, or you can just shrug and not care, that's your own opinion. **_**I**_**, personally, do not like hearing this word because I have a lot of gay friends who find it offensive. If it doesn't offend you, then good. If it does, I apologize for having used it and know Sakura's views do not express my own. **

* * *

Naruto jerked up in bed, almost in a panic, his hand reaching for a kunai that he couldn't find. It took him a few seconds to remember his dreamworld wasn't real, and a few more to identify the sound. His alarm clock. 

He groaned, rolling onto his back and glancing at it, noting it was six-thirty. Why was his alarm set again? _Oh yeah,_ he thought with a huge yawn, one hand reaching out to turn off the beeping. _I have school._

A cold wave of fear splashed over him, threatening to drown him. He didn't want to go, he was scared. Everyone would stare at him, and what if he forgot some people? How would he justify who he remembered and who he didn't? He contemplated faking illness to get out of it, throwing his covers over his head.

He wasn't concerned about the actual course material or not being in the same grade as his friends, because he'd taken a test over the weekend and the principal—who Naruto had found out was the third Hokage, aka Sarutobi Hiroki—had said he could go right back in as if he hadn't left.

It was weird for Naruto to remember everything and to understand it, but he wasn't complaining. He thought it was pretty impressive that almost a month after having woken up, he'd learned eleven years' worth of schooling. He ignored _why_, he was just glad he had.

"Honey?" There was a knock at the door. Naruto debated playing dead, but considering his coma, that would just be mean.

"Um, yes?"

"Are you up?" she asked.

"Um... define up?" he replied nervously.

There was a pause, then he heard his door open and was forced to pull his blankets away from his head. His mother walked up to his bed, holding a travel mug filled with coffee in one hand, and dressed elegantly in a beige suit with her hair in a bun.

"Sweetie, you don't have to go back to school yet if you're not ready." she said soothingly as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Don't force yourself."

"It's not that I don't think I'm ready, I'm just—scared." he admitted, ignoring the beating his pride was taking.

"Naruto, that's normal. It's been a long time, but you're a good person, and you're such a quick learner." She ran her hand through his hair. "You'll be fine. And Sasuke, Kiba, and all your other friends will be right there with you to help you out. Just be yourself and everything will be fine."

Naruto sat up, wringing his hands together as he swallowed hard and nodded. "Okay, I'll give it a try."

"If you can't take it, have Sasuke drive you home at lunch and then call me at work. I'll inform the school that it's too early, all right?" She ran her hand along his cheek and smiled.

"Okay." He nodded. "I can do this. It's just school, how hard can it be, right?" He forced a smile and reached out for his crutches.

"That's my boy." She kissed his forehead as she stood and checked her watch. "I have to go, or I'll be late. Your father's already gone, so don't forget to lock the door behind you. I'll be back around five-thirty. If you don't feel like going to school, call my cell phone so I can inform them, okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay." she repeated with a smile, kissing his forehead a second time. "Have a good day."

"You, too." She smiled and went to leave when Naruto stopped her. "Mum?" She turned. "You look really good."

"Thanks, honey." She smiled, and waved, then left.

Naruto heard the front door slam while he hobbled down the corridor, and it suddenly occurred to him why he had no parents in his dreamworld. His dad left before he woke up, and his mum stayed behind just long enough to ensure he got up before also leaving. His mother got home at five-thirty, and his father around dinnertime, at seven. It was like having no parents, really.

Naruto hobbled into his bathroom and started getting ready for school, his mind wandering as he did so. He kept trying to relate things from his real life to his fake world. Some things made sense, some didn't, but he figured they would explain themselves in time. He sometimes wondered if he _wanted_ them explained, or if he'd rather just ignore the fact that he had his own dreamworld and just go on with his life.

As he shut off the shower water and dried himself—with difficulty; crutches sucked—he wondered if he should tell his friends that he was gay. Maybe he should have told his parents first? He didn't know, but he _definitely_ wanted to tell Sasuke.

_No... maybe not Sasuke..._

He felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach and put both hands over it to calm them while he sat on the toilet lid. Once it had calmed, he grabbed his crutches and walked to his room, a towel around his waist. _Should_ he tell Sasuke? What if he was disgusted? What if he rejected him?

_What if he punches a hole through my chest with his fist?_ Naruto sighed as he pulled on a pair of boxers while seated on the bed. He'd gotten burned by Sasuke once before, he didn't think he could handle it a second time. He sighed, lying down on his bed.

"I'm not going." he decided as he threw his blankets over himself and closed his eyes. He was scared even more than before, now, and wished his thoughts hadn't strayed to that topic.

He stayed in bed, beginning to drift off to sleep when the doorbell rang. He groaned, annoyed that he'd almost gotten back to sleep. It rang again before the front door was opened, meaning whoever it was had a key, or knew where the spare was hidden.

"Naruto?" The blond's eyes snapped open and he threw the covers off himself as he heard footsteps heading for the stairs. "Are you up? Do you need help?"

"No!" Naruto was struggling to grab his crutches and ended up falling off the bed.

"Are you okay?!" Sasuke asked worriedly as his footsteps could be heard pounding up the stairs quickly.

Naruto panicked, crawling as fast as his damaged legs could carry him, and slammed the door just as Sasuke reached the second floor. The blond reached up and locked it before panting and leaning his back against the door.

Sasuke knocked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm good." Naruto lied, hating himself. He was embarrassed that he was only in boxers, even though Sasuke had probably seen him like that before, considering they used to crash at each other's houses all the time. And the crawling—God, he could sink no lower.

"Do you need help?"

"No!" He winced, trying to calm his voice. "No, I can do it. Sorry, I'll be out in a minute."

Telling Sasuke he wasn't going to school hadn't even crossed his mind. He didn't want to look weak, so even though he felt like he was going to throw up, he was going to school.

He _had_ to. If not for himself, then—for Gaara.

* * *

Naruto was surprised to find that most of the senseis in his world were actually teachers, and were all pretty similar to how they'd been. The blond belonged to Class B of the graduating class of 2004, the home-room teacher for the four years of high school having been the same man: Hatake Kakashi. 

He had nodded indifferently to Naruto, but it was obvious in his eyes that he was happy the blond was back. He didn't wear a mask, but he had scars around his mouth. Sasuke had told him Kakashi had been in a car accident the year he'd gone into his coma, and had been wearing bandages on almost his entire face. Naruto figured that explained his dream image of Kakashi.

The teenager had later run into Umino Iruka, the man bursting into tears and hugging him tightly. He spent his short break with the man, and found out that Iruka used to babysit him when he was little, and was now a guidance counsellor at his school. Apparently, Iruka had been like an older brother to him, which made sense to Naruto considering his relationship with Iruka in his dreamworld.

He believed that the most frightening experience of his entire day was running into Shiranui Genma before lunch. The man had _launched_ himself at Naruto, trying to hug him and grope him, but Namiashi Raidou had stopped him and told the boys to run, quickly. Naruto did as he was told, as best as his crutches would allow him, hearing the two teachers talking behind him as Genma tried to get free.

"Oh, he's so cute, I could just _rape_ him!" the long-haired teacher exclaimed loudly, which caused numerous people to turn to see who he was talking about.

"Yeah—not a good idea." Raidou sighed as the boys made their escape.

"Okay, _that_ was terrifying." Naruto admitted to the other two boys as they made their way towards the cafeteria.

"Eh, Genma's always been like that." Kiba shrugged. "Say, what _was_ Genma like in your dreamworld?"

The blond snorted. "Normal."

"Normal?!" Sasuke and Kiba's jaws dropped.

"_Genma_ was _normal_?! No way, dude! How did you _not_ know it was a dream?"

"No kidding." Sasuke muttered as they entered the cafeteria and he grabbed two trays—one for him, and one for Naruto. He was going to have _fun_ trying to juggle the two of them.

"You been doing okay today, Naruto? You haven't really said anything about the courseload yet."

"It's been fine. Surprisingly." The blond frowned. "I didn't expect it to be this simple."

"Simple?" Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at him. "You think this is simple?"

"Well, he _was_ smart before. It must just be a gene thing."

Naruto stared at Kiba, remembering what Neji had said before. He'd been—serious? Naruto was _smart_?!

"Smart?" he whispered in disbelief. "I was _smart_?"

"You were on the honour roll." Sasuke informed, which earned him a confused look.

"Which is a yes." Kiba clarified with a snicker, Sasuke turning to glare at him.

The blond stared at them both for a few seconds. "I was smart?"

Both boys blinked at their friend before Kiba leaned closer to Sasuke and whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Do you think he's having problems hearing?"

"My hands are full, hit him, please." Sasuke rolled his eyes as he passed Naruto to head for the checkout.

"Don't hit me!" Kiba exclaimed in a panic, which just made the blond laugh and follow after Sasuke.

The raven put both trays down before going to grab Naruto's wallet. The blond stumbled back, almost losing his grip on his crutches. He grabbed his wallet himself, handing it to Sasuke. The Uchiha didn't really seem to notice his small freak out.

"We usually sit outside, but if that's too hard for you, we can eat in the refectory." Sasuke told Naruto.

"Fucker, the refac is so _loud_, dude. Can't we—ow!" Kiba crossed his legs and bent down slightly, having been kicked in the shin. "Fuck, dude! That hurt!"

Naruto smiled slightly at Sasuke's protectiveness, and assured them that eating outside would be fine. As they headed for the doors that led outside, he noticed Gaara walking towards the lunch line. He was wearing all-black and had black makeup around his eyes. Naruto hoped Gaara would sit outside, too.

They headed towards the school doors, Kiba kicking one open and then holding it for Sasuke and Naruto before following them. Sasuke headed towards a large tree where a few of their friends were already seated.

"Well, look who it is." Ino grinned as she patted the spot next to her. "I hate being in class A, I miss you too much." Naruto laughed and got himself on the ground—with difficulty—before Sasuke handed him his tray.

"So, how's your day been so far? Everything okay?" Ino inquired before taking a bite of her salad. Naruto shrugged as he poked at the lasagna on his plate. He had an insane feeling that it was going to jump out and try to eat him.

"Good. Haven't forgotten anyone so far, but I still haven't seen a few people. Like Orochimaru."

"Trust me, you don't _want_ to." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Ever since we set his foetal pig on fire in ninth grade, he's been out to get us."

Naruto blinked at Sasuke as the raven ate, the Uchiha clearly not sharing the blond's concern that the lasagna was going to bite a chunk out of him. "We set a pig on fire?"

"A foetal pig. A dead one. He had it in a jar on his shelf. Guy watches too much CSI; wanted to have his own foetal pig, like that Grissom character. We only ever had him as a teacher for one year, so we don't really see him around much anymore." Sasuke replied before eying Naruto's lasagna. "Are you not hungry?"

"Huh?" Naruto looked at his plate and laughed nervously. "It doesn't look friendly." he admitted.

"You should hurry up and eat it." Kiba grinned. "Bite it before _it_ bites _you_!"

"Chomp!" Naruto jumped a mile high as someone shouted this right behind him, Neji laughing as he plopped down in the circle with Hinata.

"You guys suck!" Naruto screamed, going beet red.

"Yeah, be nice to the cripple." Ino grinned.

"Fuck you! You all suck!" The blond pouted and took a bite of his lasagna, miffed. He looked up at them and paused, noticing that Gaara had just taken a seat in the grass under a tree.

"You doing all right this first day back?" Neji asked as he opened a bottle of orange juice and took a large sip.

"I'm fine, people need to stop asking me that." the blond muttered, returning to poking his food.

"We just want to make sure you're all right." Hinata insisted with a smile.

"You know what you need, Naruto?" Kiba asked, wrapping his arm around the blond's shoulders. "_You_ need to get laid."

"That's _you_, dumbass."

"Actually, _you're_ the one who needs to get laid the most out of _all_ of us." Kiba said dryly to Sasuke.

"That's what my brother says." the raven admitted with a frown.

"Either way, Kiba's sort of right." Neji agreed. "You need a girlfriend to help keep you relaxed."

"I'm single!" Ino's hand shot up. Naruto laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Thanks, Ino, but I'm... let's just say I won't be getting a girlfriend any time soon."

"Why?" Hinata asked. He just shrugged.

"If that bitch Sakura turned you off women, I'll kill her." Ino joked.

"It—wasn't Sakura."

Everything went dead silent. Kiba had his fork near his open mouth, but the lasagna had fallen off it and landed on his jeans. He didn't seem to notice. Naruto shifted uncomfortably, feeling that maybe he shouldn't have said anything at all.

"You're—gay?" Ino asked slowly.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but another voice interrupted him.

"Well, _that_ explains things." He hadn't noticed Sakura standing across from him, right behind Neji. Everyone else had been looking at him, so no one had noticed.

"Go back to your brothel, whore." Ino snapped, practically baring her teeth in anger.

"Mind your own business, bitch." Sakura smirked at her own cleverness. "I came to rekindle my flame with Naruto, but if he's a _fag_—"

She didn't get to continue because Ino had stood up and punched her at that word. Kiba and Neji had to grab her to stop her from causing more harm to Sakura, which would probably land the rosette in the hospital, and the blonde an expulsion.

"How troublesome." Naruto turned at those words, seeing a sighing Shikamaru holding a tray. He'd been serving a detention for not having handed in his homework. "Ino, calm down, you don't want another suspension."

"Yeah, listen to your _boyfriend_, pig." Sakura hissed, wiping blood from her mouth.

"Not her boyfriend." Shikamaru sighed, annoyed. He and Ino had been best friends since kindergarten, so everyone immediately assumed they were an item.

"Hey Shikamaru, did you know?" Sakura sneered, looking at Naruto. "Our blond friend is a _fag_."

Ino redoubled her efforts to hit Sakura as Shikamaru blinked.

"Ino, you'll get expelled." he said again.

"I don't care!"

"No, no." Shikamaru put his tray down. "I just mean _you'll_ get expelled."

"Huh?" Ino didn't even have the time to glance at Shikamaru before he flew past her and decked Sakura right in the face.

"Holy shit!" Naruto stared, wide-eyed. "I thought you didn't hit girls!"

"No, your dream me doesn't hit girls." Shikamaru cracked his knuckles as Sakura scrambled to her feet and ran, holding her nose. "And even if I didn't hit girls, Sakura doesn't count."

"Sorry to say, but the whole school will know by the end of the day." Hinata whispered.

"I don't mind." Naruto shrugged, taking a bite of his lasagna, as if forgetting his previous thoughts about the food biting _him_. "As long as my friends don't change because of my preferences, the school can say what they want."

"Tch." Kiba let Ino go and sat back down. "As long as you don't try to jump me, we're good."

"Ditto." Shikamaru agreed, flicking a spider off his shoulder before taking his seat.

"You can jump me." Ino teased as she went back to eating her salad.

"You're missing equipment." Kiba grinned.

"Careful, or I'll steal yours." The brunette winced, his hands going to protect his package.

"Please don't." he whimpered.

Naruto just laughed, shaking his head. It suddenly occurred to him that Sasuke hadn't said anything, and he almost looked up to see his face, but decided against it. He was too scared to. So, instead, he just stared down at his food and continued to eat.

There was silence for a few seconds before Kiba cleared his throat.

"Wow, is it just me, or is there, like, _massive_ tension?"

Ino hit the brunette across the back of the head, Kiba letting out a shout. "Idiot! Only _you_ would be stupid enough to blurt out something so bluntly!" (1)

"What's wrong with being blunt?" he whined, nursing the bump on his head.

"Don't worry about it, Kiba." Naruto smiled, still not looking up. "I like your bluntness."

"Thanks... I think." Kiba frowned. "You're not hitting on me, are you?"

Ino wanted to hit him again, but to be honest, she lacked the energy. Hitting Kiba every time he said or did something stupid would just be a pain in the ass. She chose to ignore him and continued eating her salad.

"Why won't you look at me?" Everyone looked up at Sasuke at this question. Everyone except Naruto. He didn't want to look up.

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since you admitted to being gay, you haven't looked at me." Sasuke accused, his tray in front of him and his hands folded together, his elbows resting on his thighs.

"I get it!" Kiba exclaimed. Naruto looked up at him, alarmed, hoping he wasn't going to say it out loud! Then again, this _was_ Kiba. "You're worried about what Sasuke thinks of you now!"

_And luckily for me, Kiba's an idiot._ Naruto sighed. He'd been so scared Kiba was going to blurt out that Naruto liked Sasuke, and _that_ was why he wasn't looking up. It didn't seem like anyone had considered that. Then again, it was a little true, what Kiba had said. Naruto didn't want Sasuke to be disgusted with him or anything like that.

"Naruto?" The blond looked up, somewhat nervously. Blue locked with onyx. "_Is_ that why you're scared to look at me?"

"Yeah." he whispered, looking back down.

"You're an idiot."

"Eh?!" Naruto's head jerked up, his eyes meeting Sasuke's once more. The raven was smirking.

"You're my best friend. I don't care if you want to screw guys." He shrugged. "To each his own. If I was into bestiality, I'm sure you'd be there for me no matter what."

"... _Are_ you into bestiality?" Kiba asked, shifting away slightly. "Do I need to protect Akamaru?"

Sasuke shifted his eyes slowly to look at Kiba. "You're an idiot."

Naruto laughed at the look on Kiba's face, shaking his head. He listened happily as Sasuke and Kiba started to fight, the brunette using huge arm movements and a lot of pointing, while the raven just smirked and spoke calmly.

_This is fun,_ Naruto realized as he took a sip of his drink. His eyes wandered around the area until they stopped on Gaara, and he froze. The redhead was facing the tree he'd sat under, eating his food slowly with his head bowed. Naruto put his drink down, staring at the other's back, and then struggled to get to his feet. Ino started to stand so she could help him, but Neji grabbed her arm, knowing Naruto wanted to do it on his own.

Once he was standing and holding his crutches comfortably, he slowly made his way towards Gaara.

"What's he doing?" Ino inquired as the group watched him go. Kiba was still yelling at Sasuke, but the raven was also staring at Naruto.

"He's Naruto. What do you _think_ he's doing?" Shikamaru sighed. "So troublesome."

* * *

Gaara could hear the group of friends behind him bickering about something or another. He listened in, trying to establish why Kiba was yelling so much, but it was hard to make out, even though he was yelling. Kiba tended not to enunciate properly a lot of the time, which made it hard to understand him. 

_He doesn't have anything intelligent to say, anyway,_ Gaara thought as he finished his juice and put it down on his tray. A shadow appeared over him and he spun around defensively, glaring. He was a little stunned to see Naruto, but his face remained expressionless.

"Hey, Gaara. Mind if I join you?"

"Why?" the redhead asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Why not?"

Gaara looked past Naruto at his group of friends, all of whom were staring at them. Kiba had finally clued in, and had turned around to see what was going on. The redhead let out a grunt, turning his back on the blond.

"Nice try."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Sorry, but I'm not gonna bite. Go tell your friends you lost your little bet."

The blond's eyebrow slowly rose before he wobbled in front of Gaara and leaned back against the tree, using it to help him sit down before placing his crutches beside him. The redhead glared, gathering his things so he could leave.

"Are you always this paranoid?"

"I have nothing to say to you." Gaara stated before standing, shouldering his bag and turning, his tray in his hands.

"You were defensive in my dreamworld, too."

This made Gaara pause after his first step. He turned back to Naruto slowly, the shock clear on his face.

"You—dreamt about me?"

"Well, in a way, I suppose." Naruto's face split into a huge smile. "You and I were really good friends. I helped you surpass me—unintentionally, of course." He chuckled.

Gaara stared at Naruto for a few seconds, then looked back at the blond's friends. They weren't even paying attention to them anymore, they'd gone back to fighting with one another. If this had been a bet or a joke, they'd still be watching, and would be laughing. The redhead turned back to Naruto.

"Why are you here?" he asked, though he didn't move from where he stood. The blond shrugged.

"I just figured you could use a friend." He smiled. "You could, right? Use a friend?"

Gaara just stared at Naruto, noting how sincere he looked. He glanced back at the blond's friends, then turned to him again.

"You—want to be my friend?"

"I was your friend in my dreamworld. How hard can it be to be your friend out here?" He patted the spot beside him. "Come on, sit down."

Gaara hesitated, then finally put his tray back down and removed his bag, sitting down awkwardly beside Naruto. The two looked up at the sky in silence, the redhead uncomfortable and Naruto just relaxed.

"So, tell me, Gaara," Naruto turned to him with a smile. "Do you like the beach?"

* * *

(1) That is SUCH a me thing to do... and I've done it before -sweatdrop- 

**A.N: Ugh, went over this chapter twice, but I'm so tired there's probably some mistakes or something and there's a part in this that I feel I've used already in a previous chapter... if anyone catches anything, let me know please? -loves-**


	11. Of Sexuality

**A.N: Okay, so a lot of people were annoyed with the multiple warnings in the last chapter. The reason I did that is because not everyone actually reads author's notes, so I wanted to make sure people saw it. The people who were annoyed are probably the people who actually DO read the author's notes, too -sweatdrop- Sorry it was annoying, but I'm keeping it as it is.**

**Also, y'all get to thank RubyPlushie for this chapter... 'Cause I'm hella sick and was super depressed until about five minutes ago, all thanks to her. -huggles Ruby- Thanks, hun. So, yes, this chapter is dedicated to Rubes (well, the whole FIC is dedicated to her, but... yeah... This chapter most especially haha)**

**Disclaimer: THEY'RE MINE! ALL MINE! MY OWN! MY PRECIOUS! HE WANTS IT! K. MASASHI WANTS IT, BUT THEY'RE MINE! -pets characters- **

* * *

Yamato walked out of his office to find Naruto sitting alone in the waiting room. He cocked an eyebrow and looked around before focussing on the blond once more.

"Where's Sasuke?" he inquired. It was a Friday, so he was shocked to find the raven wasn't hanging out with his best friend.

"I took a cab. I didn't want him here today." The blond stood up with his crutches, making his way into the physiotherapist's office.

"Why's that?" the doctor asked before closing the door once Naruto was inside. The blond shrugged.

"Well, I sort of wanted it to be a surprise."

The older man stared at Naruto and tried to stop his jaw from hitting the ground. If the blond had regained the ability to walk without the help of crutches already, he was probably going to go in the record books for fastest recovery _ever_!

"Let's try this before we get excited." Yamato insisted, getting behind Naruto and holding his waist. The blond dropped the crutches and grabbed the parallel bars, walking forward slowly, but surely.

Slowly, the blond started putting less and less weight on his arms, and soon, he was walking with his hands hovering over the wood. Once he reached the end of the parallel bars, he turned slowly and walked back towards Yamato, this time, with his hands at his sides. He stopped in front of the physiotherapist, his knees still a little shaky, but completely supported by his legs. The man scratched his head.

"I don't even know what to say to you."

"How about 'you don't need to use crutches anymore'? I'd really like to hear that." the blond admitted.

"Not yet. There's a difference between being on your feet for a few minutes, and being on your feet for much, much longer. Let's see if you can last the whole one-hour session with your legs supporting you."

"Fine. And once I succeed, I demand a signed letter stating you think I am amazing." Naruto grinned as he walked carefully across the room and started in a huge circle, just for the hell of it.

"Naruto, if you last this entire session on your feet, I will give you your next five physiotherapy sessions for free."

The blond blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. Tsunade's a friend, anyway, and if you last, you'll deserve it."

Naruto grinned. "You're going to wish you'd never said that, 'cause I'm going to stay on my feet if it kills me."

"Please don't die in my office, that would become problematic for my business." The man grinned.

Naruto ignored him, for the most part, and concentrated on staying on his feet. His legs burned, and his knees felt like they were on fire, but he ignored the pain and continued to walk in the slow circle. His legs wouldn't stop shaking, but at least he was still on his feet. He was glad, because the wheelchair and the crutches had been a pain in the ass.

He continued with his circle and as he put his left foot down, pain shot up his leg and he winced, stopping for a second. He only realized then that he was breathing hard, and that sweat was trickling down the side of his face. Even though this didn't _seem_ like it was taking a toll on him, it really was. Walking was meant to be effortless, but he was forcing muscles that had deteriorated to return to their previous forms. He knew it was reckless, but Naruto was _not_ leaving that office with the crutches.

"You okay?" Yamato asked from his location by the door, leaning back against the wall.

"I can make it." Naruto insisted with a glare, starting to walk again. Had his legs always been this heavy? Was he tired already? How long had he been walking?

"Trust me, Naruto." The man chuckled. "If there's anyone on the planet who can pull this off, it's you."

"I'm going to be on my feet again." Naruto insisted.

"I know you will. You're doing great. If you can last the whole session, you'll probably be able to walk without the crutches from now on, but I _will_ give them to you, just in case you need them."

"I won't need them." Naruto ground out. "I'll make it."

"Sure, kid." Yamato smiled, looking at his watch. Twelve minutes to go. "Sure."

Maybe he shouldn't have made that deal with him, after all. He was going to lose a lot of money.

* * *

Sasuke stared out at the passing houses as Kiba whistled a random tune beside him, turning the wheel a little too quickly and causing the car they were both in to let out a small screech of protest as the wheels skidded slightly along the asphalt. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Kiba was bad at everything he did, apparently. 

"Dude, you still depressed?"

"Blunt as ever." Sasuke muttered.

"Oh my God, dork-face, so he didn't want to hang out with you for _one_ weekend. You make it seem like you're a jealous girlfriend who found out her boyfriend spent the weekend with an ex or something." Kiba snickered.

"My best friend was in a two-year coma, excuse me if I want to try and spend as much time with him as possible." Sasuke growled, turning to glare at Kiba.

"Did it occur to you that maybe he needs some space, dude?" Kiba turned to look at him briefly. "Like, you've been with him almost all the time since he woke up. Guy might need some alone time, you know? Just chill out."

The brunette turned onto Naruto's street and pulled up in his driveway. He was about to honk the horn but Sasuke grabbed his wrist, shaking his head. The other boy really _wasn't_ all that bright, but he supposed he should be grateful for getting a ride to school every day.

"I'll get him. Don't wake up the whole neighbourhood, idiot." Sasuke opened the car door.

"I hate you!"

He slammed it with a shake of his head and headed for the front door, ringing the doorbell. He heard no sounds coming from inside, so he rang it again. Still nothing. Panic seized Sasuke's heart as he pictured Naruto having fallen over and banged his head, lapsing into another coma. He tried the door and threw it open when he found it unlocked.

"Naruto!" he screamed as he ran towards the stairs. "Naruto, are you okay?!"

He reached the top floor and slammed into the blond's room, finding it empty. He stared, shaking his head, confused.

"Wha...?" Where the hell was Naruto?

"Did you forget?" Sasuke jerked around as he heard the voice, Naruto standing behind him wearing a pair of plaided pyjama pants and a towel around his neck, his hair damp and dripping water onto his tanned chest.

"Fuck me, Jesus!" Sasuke grabbed Naruto, hugging him tightly, not caring that he was acting like a pansy. The worst images had been going through his mind, and finding Naruto all right just lifted a huge weight off his shoulders.

"Uh, are you okay?"

"You scared me, shit!" Sasuke pulled away and shoved him lightly in the shoulder. "I had these crazy scenarios running through my mind."

"Sorry, I just—wasn't expecting you." Naruto admitted, smirking slightly and crossing his arms. He wondered how long it would take for Sasuke to notice.

"Wasn't expecting me? You bailing on school today?" the raven blinked.

"No, you and Kiba don't pay attention. We don't _have_ school today. My parents woke me up when they left, so I just got up and had a shower since I couldn't get back to sleep."

Sasuke blinked.

"We don't have school?"

Naruto laughed, shaking his head. "No. I was going to call you later so we could catch a movie or something."

"Oh." Sasuke suddenly felt like an idiot for not knowing. He tried to convince himself that Kiba also hadn't known, but since Kiba really _was_ an idiot, it didn't make him feel any better.

"Since you're here, though, you and Kiba should have breakfast with me." Naruto passed Sasuke and started down the stairs, Sasuke following numbly, still feeling like an idiot. He followed the blond to the front door, where he opened it and walked out onto his front porch.

"Kiba, we don't have school, you idiot. Come inside, I'll make pancakes." he called to the other boy as Kiba opened his door. He stared wide-eyed, his jaw dropping, and then pointed to Naruto.

"Holy shit, dude! You're fucking _walking_!"

Sasuke stared at Kiba while he stood beside Naruto, and then turned, looking at the blond. He wanted to die even _more_, now, because he'd surpassed Kiba in idiocy. _How_ had he missed the fact that Naruto was standing without crutches? He looked up at Naruto, and saw him grinning.

"This is why I didn't want to see you this weekend. I was trying to work up my muscles enough to stand by myself without my legs shaking."

"Wow." Sasuke managed to get out. "Seriously, this is—wow. You're fucking amazing, man."

"No shit, dude!" Kiba laughed as he climbed the steps to the porch. "So, can we, like, shove you over or anything?"

"Please don't." Naruto laughed nervously.

Sasuke resisted the urge to hit Kiba, just turning and walking back into the house as Naruto and Kiba followed. The door was closed and the three of them made their way to the kitchen.

"Don't think I'm gay or anything, Naruto, but you have awesome chest muscles considering you've been unconscious for two years."

This time, Sasuke really _did_ hit Kiba. He even had to fly past Naruto to do it, the blond laughing slightly as the brunette shouted out in pain and then started shouting _period_. Sasuke was just so pissed at Kiba's bluntness.

"That fucking hurt, asshole!" Kiba shouted.

"Can you _please_ think before actually opening that God damn mouth of yours!" Sasuke yelled back angrily. "You keep saying things that are best kept inside your head!"

"Hey!" Both turned to Naruto as he looked back and forth between them. "Do you realize you're acting like this is a fight between Sasuke and Sakura? Please don't make me kick you out, I don't have enough leg-strength for that." He turned back towards his kitchen and started getting ingredients out.

"Sorry." Sasuke muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, my bad." Kiba sat down at the table. "I hope I didn't offend you or anything."

"You didn't." Naruto turned to the brunette with a smile. "I didn't mind, I was kind of flattered that you think so." He grinned ferally at Kiba and the boy paled. Naruto just laughed shaking his head at him as he started measuring out flour.

"Did you need help?" Sasuke came up beside Naruto.

"Don't do it, Naruto! Sasuke will kill us both!"

"Shut it!" the raven hissed, blushing slightly.

Naruto just laughed before saying he was fine, and Sasuke went to sit down beside Kiba. The three of them started talking about what they'd done over the weekend. Well, Naruto and Sasuke had. Kiba just made up stories about ninjas, probably to humour Naruto. The blond _did_ find it funny, but it also made him think back on his time in Konoha. Or, well, his _dream_ about his time in Konoha, anyway.

He couldn't decide if he missed it or not. Well, if he was honest, then the answer was no, but he was sad that the relationship he had with Sakura wasn't the same. He was glad that Sasuke was back, but it felt wrong, in a way, to be trading Sakura for Sasuke, or vice versa. Why couldn't they just _both_ be his friends?

He sighed, putting some batter onto a pan to make the first pancake. Things were so different. _I better get used to it, because this is my life, now. And it's not so bad._ He turned to look at Sasuke, who was rolling his eyes at something Kiba was saying. All he had left to do was tell Sasuke how he felt. He swallowed hard, turning back to the pancake and flipping it over.

That was going to be much harder in practice than in theory.

* * *

"I can't believe you're _so_ insensitive, Kiba." Ino hit him across the back of the head as the bell rang. 

"Ow! Fuck! With Naruto back, I thought the abuse would return to _him_! God, you people suck! Why am I friends with you?!" He slammed his locked shut, rubbing the back of his head.

"I haven't done anything yet." Naruto insisted.

"Note the word 'yet,' Kiba." Sasuke laughed.

"I hate all of you!" He stormed down the corridor angrily as Ino giggled, the two boys walking along beside her.

"I'm really glad you're back on your feet, Naruto." Ino smiled. "Sai's going to freak out when he finds out."

"I know." The blond got an evil glint in his eye. "It's going to be awesome."

Ino blinked at him. "I am suddenly terrified for Sai."

"I'm always terrified for Sai." Sasuke laughed. "He's coming by Naruto's after school, and I plan on being there to see what happens. It's going to be awesome!"

Ino grinned and opened her mouth to ask if she could join him, since seeing Sai's reaction would be the most hilarious thing _ever_, but she was interrupted when someone skid around the corner at the end of the corridor and pointed his finger at Naruto.

"Naruto! True or false?!"

The blond stared at him, blinked, and then looked at Sasuke. The raven shrugged. He looked back at Genma. "Uh, true, if your question is whether or not I'm Naruto..."

"I just heard something from someone!"

"That's nice, Genma." Sasuke sighed.

"That's _Mr._ Shiranui to _you_!" The teacher glared at Sasuke, but quickly lost interest, appearing right in front of Naruto and poking him in the chest. "True or false: you're gay."

Ino and Sasuke were making huge gestures behind Genma for Naruto to deny it, shaking their heads and waving their arms frantically. Naruto just cocked an eyebrow and replied with something which caused Ino to practically fall over and Sasuke to hit himself in the forehead.

"True, why?"

"You're gay?!" Genma exploded in pure delight, causing everyone to freeze and look at him. Naruto turned beet red at all the eyes on him. "Sexy." Genma grinned. "But you can't have Raidou."

It hadn't really occurred to Naruto that Genma was gay, but he realized he probably should've guessed he was. "Uh, I don't _want_ him, no worries." He started to walk past him to head for class when he was suddenly grabbed by the front of the collar and found his face inches away from an angry Genma's.

"_What do you mean?!"_ He hollered right in his face, Naruto's eyes wide in panic. "What, is he not _good_ enough or something?!" He held Naruto's collar in one hand as he started storming down the corridor, pulling Naruto along, who looked over pleadingly at Sasuke. "Raidou! Come here and screw Naruto! Show him your worth!"

"What the fuck?!" The blond screamed as he tried to pull his shirt free.

Genma was walking too fast. Naruto was finding it hard to keep up, considering he still wasn't too steady on his feet. He stumbled slightly, worried he was going to hit the ground. His knees couldn't take much more abuse.

"Genma! Stop it! You're hurting him!" Sasuke exclaimed as he appeared beside Naruto and slapped at the teacher's hand.

Genma let go, turning to Naruto alarmed as the blond fixed his collar. He then frowned. "Liar, he's fine!"

"Notice the lack of crutches!" Sasuke snapped angrily. "God, he just got back on his feet. How about acting _normal_ for a change?"

"Hey!" Genma pouted, crossing his arms, but he let Sasuke lead Naruto away, feeling a little guilty. It wasn't his fault he was so outgoing. At least he wasn't crazy, like Gai.

The man shuddered at the mere thought of the green-clad man. "Ugh. Gai."

"Are you okay?" Ino asked as Sasuke walked back towards her with Naruto, watching him carefully in case his legs gave out.

"I'm fine." He laughed, waving his hand at her. "Don't worry about me."

"Then why are you leaning against the lockers?" she asked, concerned.

"You should go to class, Ino. I'll help him out, don't worry."

The blonde girl nodded once, giving Naruto one more concerned look before walking away. She kept looking over her shoulder, seeing Sasuke trying to let Naruto carry him, the blond refusing almost violently, waving his arms and pushing the raven away. She smiled to herself before entering the class and sitting down between Shikamaru and Neji.

"When do you think he'll figure it out?"

Because she was sitting between the two biggest geniuses she'd ever met, that was all she needed to say for them to know who she was talking about, and to what she was referring.

"He's stubborn." Neji said as he looked down at his desk, his arms crossed. "It will take more than just Naruto's admission for him to admit to himself how he feels for Naruto. He still mistakes it for strong friendship."

"So troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, looking up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. "It's been over four years, can't we just tell him and get it over with? He'll never figure it out for himself."

"He will, eventually." Ino leaned forward, crossing her arms on the desk and resting her chin on them. "We just have to hope it's sooner rather than later. He's so gay, it hurts."

* * *

Ino tapped her mouse in irritation as her computer froze, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance. She was going to throw the damn thing out the window if it didn't obey _right now_! She heard the doorbell ring, but her mind remained focussed on the infernal machine she was staring at. Her eyes narrowed as the urge to chuck it out the window grew. 

A knock at her door distracted her from the stupid thing and she turned in her chair, calling for them to come in. Naruto opened the door, rubbing the back of his head and looking insanely embarrassed.

"Naruto! Hey!" Ino exclaimed with a brilliant smile. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything."

"I needed to talk to someone." he admitted as he closed the door. "Generally, my first instinct would be Sakura, because of how it was in my dreamworld, but since you're pretty much the equivalent of what she was—I'm confusing myself. Suffice it to say I needed to talk to a girl, and you're the first person that came to mind."

"Sure." Ino laughed slightly. He looked so flustered. "Sit." She motioned her bed and he sat down on the end, Ino rolling closer on her chair. "What's up?"

"The fact that you know I'm gay makes this easier, so bear with me." Naruto shifted on the bed. "I don't know if I first started being gay before my coma or after it, but I just know that the whole time I was in my dream, I was..." he trailed off, blushing.

"You were what?"

"I was in love with Sasuke." he mumbled out quickly, hoping she'd missed it.

She hadn't.

"Well, _duh_!" She rolled her eyes. "Even when you were dating _Sakura_ we knew you were, at the very least, bi-sexual."

"Huh?" Naruto stared at her wide-eyed, confused.

"You and Sasuke are really weird." she admitted, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs. "I mean, yes, best friends can always be together, but some of the things you _did_ were—well, not very best friend-like. That, and the fact that you were _always_ together—it was a little freaky sometimes. Like, even Shikamaru and I need some space or we get annoyed with one another, but you and Sasuke, you're not on the friendship field. You're both playing for the same team, Sasuke just hasn't left the batter box yet."

"So... you're saying he's gay and doesn't know it?"

Ino sighed, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward to rest her elbows on her thighs. "Well, I think it's a bit more complicated than that. In your dream, you pretty much had eighteen years to see how you felt about Sasuke, right? So when you woke up, you just loved him, period. For him, I think he still doesn't know how to class his feelings. Itachi keeps trying to push him in the right direction, but either Sasuke's really stupid, or his brain won't venture in that direction."

"Itachi knows?!" Naruto was stunned.

"Itachi's his brother, he knows everything." Ino laughed. "And he's fucking _hot_, too." She grinned to herself. Naruto cleared his throat as she started day dreaming and she looked back at him, shaking her head. "Right, your problem."

"Well, in all honesty, I came here to ask you whether or not I should tell him how I feel. I don't want to ask him out or anything just yet, but I _do_ want to tell him. I'm just worried it'll change things between us, you know? Like, what if he freaks out on me?"

The blonde leaned back in her chair as she regarded Naruto. He had a point, but there was also the possibility that Sasuke would think about it for a while and figure out how he felt. Or, he could just deny it completely and stop seeing Naruto. Or would he? Would Sasuke really give up his friendship with Naruto over this?

"I can't make this decision for you, Naruto." she finally said. "Whatever you decide is up to you, but from what _I_ know of Sasuke, I don't think it would change anything in terms of friendship if he said he didn't like you in _that_ way." she smiled.

"Okay." He wrung his hands nervously. "I think I'm going to tell him, then."

"When?"

"Tomorrow. Or maybe—no, I'll wait until Friday, after school. Kiba wants to teach me how to play soccer or something. Said I was a really good soccer player."

"You were." Ino grinned. "And you were damn sexy in your uniform, soaked in sweat. Mm." She closed her eyes and grinned to herself as she pictured what Naruto used to look like after his games.

"Hey! Stop that!" Naruto laughed, swatting her shoulder as he stood. She opened her eyes, looking up at him.

"I'll be there, if you need me."

"Thanks. I just might. And thank you for listening."

"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow." She stood up and hugged him tightly.

"Have a good night." He left and Ino fell back into her chair, turning around.

"God, finally!" She snapped at her computer as MSN opened. She clicked on Neji's name and grinned as she typed that Sasuke was going to be admitting his sexuality much sooner than they'd all thought.


	12. Of Relapses

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies. (You can always tell I'm tired when I don't have something semi-creative... Ugh, gtg to school RIGHT NOW!)**

* * *

Naruto sat in bed, biting his thumbnail, and staring at a picture of him and Sasuke from before his coma. His eyes kept going out of focus, but after a few seconds passed and he noticed, they would focus again and he would go back to looking at Sasuke. 

Tomorrow was the day he was going to admit to Sasuke how he felt. Tomorrow could possibly be the most important day in his entire life. Sai had told him to go for it—after having shouted a 'finally' about Naruto saying he was gay, since he'd forgotten Sai hadn't known yet—and Ino had told him the same thing.

"But what if this is a bad idea?" he whispered to himself for what felt like the millionth time. He was so scared that he was going to lose Sasuke's friendship. Being rejected wasn't that big of a deal to him, it was the friendship that he was worried about. He didn't want Sasuke to flip out and tell him he could never love him like that, and that it was wrong, and that Naruto was disgusting.

The blond sighed, putting the picture down and bringing his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. His door opened and he looked up, startled, his mother poking her head in.

"Sweetie, it's almost two in the morning, what are you still doing up?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking." He smiled. "I'll go to bed, sorry."

"Don't be sorry, what's the matter?" She sat down on the edge of his bed, noting the picture on the night stand.

"Nothing's the matter."

"Honey, you can talk to me." She rubbed his knee with a smile. "I just want to help."

The blond hesitated, but he really needed someone else to talk to. As he opened his mouth to explain the situation, his throat dried, realizing his parents didn't know he was gay yet. Could he really tell his mother right now and then have to admit his feelings to Sasuke tomorrow? He only had so much of a supply of guts. _She's my mother, she'll understand._

"Mum, I—first I need to tell you something." He wrung his hands together, avoiding her eye. "And no matter what, please promise you'll always love me."

"Sweetie, of course I will." She smiled, moving closer to him. "What is it?"

"I'm, uh..." He swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, this is hard for me to say to you because you're my mother and I don't want to lose you." he clenched his blankets in his hands, taking a deep breath. "I'm gay."

"I know."

He looked up, completely stunned. She laughed at the look on his face, ruffling his hair.

"Sweetie, I think the only person in your life who _doesn't_ know you're gay is Sasuke. Unless you've told him, that is. And the only reason he wouldn't know is because he's in denial himself of being gay."

"Does _everyone_ know?!" Naruto asked, throwing his arms in the air. "My friends at school acted like it was no big deal, _Sai_ shouted 'finally' when I told him, and now you?!"

"Naruto, the way you and Sasuke are, I'm surprised _more_ people didn't know. Now," she hit his leg lightly. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Well, I want to tell Sasuke how I feel." he admitted.

"But you're scared of losing his friendship?"

"I don't know what to do." the blond whined, leaning his head back against the headboard and sighing loudly. "If I don't tell him, I'll go insane, and if I do, well—things might not turn out the way I was hoping."

"You'll never know if you don't try, honey." Minako kissed his forehead as she stood. "But it's up to you. Sasuke's a true friend, he'll always be there for you, no matter what."

"Right. Thanks, mum."

"Of course. Have a good night." She turned off the light as she reached the door, exiting the room. Naruto took it as his cue to get to sleep, so he lay down and closed his eyes, trying to decide what he should do.

* * *

"I'm so ready for this!" Kiba hollered as he shifted his weight from side to side. He then fell flat on his ass as the soccer ball hit him right in the face. "_Oh_ my _God_!" he sat up, both hands holding his nose. _"Ow!"_

Ino smirked slightly, flipping the end of her ponytail back over her shoulder. "Sorry, dog-face. Better luck next time."

"You did that on purpose!" Kiba hollered as he grabbed the soccer ball and threw it at her, looking insanely ridiculous still sitting spread-eagle on the grass inside the goal.

The weak throw was easily stopped by Ino's foot, and she started bouncing it on the top of her foot before transferring it to her knee and then alternating legs.

Naruto just watched from the side of the field, enjoying the light breeze as he sat back on the grass. Sasuke was making his way towards him from the left, holding a coke. When he reached his friend, he sat down beside him, looking out at Ino, who was now taunting Kiba by keeping the ball out of his reach with some fancy footwork.

"I thought you were going to play."

"Kiba said there weren't enough people here yet." the blond informed, smiling at the brunette's inability to stand on two feet without falling over. "And I'm having too much fun watching Ino destroy Kiba's pride."

"Poor thing." Sasuke smirked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Also, I wanted to talk to you, so I guess this kind of worked out nicely."

The raven turned to Naruto, looking confused, but the blond kept his gaze on the two in front of him, fighting for the ball. He gripped the grass in his hands, clenching his jaw. He could do this, he just needed to word it properly.

"You know—back when I admitted I was gay, how I didn't want to look at you?"

"Yeah." Sasuke looked out at Kiba and Ino, too, since looking at Naruto when he wasn't looking back felt odd. Especially considering the turn this conversation had just taken.

"Well, I was scared of seeing disgust. I didn't want to know that you thought it was wrong for me to be gay. And then when you didn't react like that, I was—relieved." Naruto looked down, now, at the blades of grass. He could do this. "The truth is, Sasuke... I think I've liked you since before I was even aware of the fact that I was gay."

The raven's eyebrows shot into his hairline, and he turned to look at Naruto, who was still looking at the ground, his jaw clenched.

"What?"

"I like you, Sasuke. A lot. I think some part of me always has." Naruto whispered.

There was a tense silence after that admission, and the blond thought he was going to go insane. When he finally couldn't take it anymore, he figured it was the end of their friendship, and just stood up to leave.

Sasuke grabbed his wrist.

"Naruto, please don't go." the raven whispered, forcing Naruto to sit back down. "I'm flattered that you like me, Naruto, I really am. And to be honest, it makes me a little happy, because you're my best friend."

_But..._ Naruto thought sadly.

"But I'm sorry, I'm not like that, and I don't see you that way." Sasuke put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, the blond refusing to look at him. "I'll never _not_ be your friend, though, so you're stuck with me. And I'm not going to be weirded out if you hug me or wrestle with me. Though if you grope me, try and make it look like an accident, will you?" He chuckled slightly. Naruto smiled a bit.

"Thanks, Sasuke."

"I really am sorry, Naruto." the raven felt like his heart was ripping itself apart. He attributed it to guilt, and the look on Naruto's face.

"It's okay." He turned back to Sasuke, finally, a brilliant—and fake—smile on his face. "I'm glad you're still going to be my friend. I just needed to get that off my chest."

The blond leapt to his feet, running towards Ino and Kiba, yelling that he wanted to play. Sasuke watched from the sidelines, feeling like a jerk, knowing he'd really hurt Naruto's feelings. _But what am I supposed to do? Lie to him? I don't like him in that way, we're best friends. He'll always be the most important person to me, no matter what. That's enough, isn't it?_

"Hey, Uchiha." Sasuke turned to see Neji coming towards him.

"Hey. You're actually going to play?" Sasuke sounded sceptical.

"Don't be an idiot, I just came to watch." Neji groaned as he sat down beside Sasuke and stared out as the three passing the ball to each other. "How's he been doing?"

"As far as I can tell, he's been good." Sasuke admitted. "I can't believe he's already back on his feet. And playing soccer, too."

"Yeah, it seems pretty amazing." Neji agreed as Kiba ran towards the goal and kicked the ball. It bounced off the sidepost and rebounded into his face, sending him flat on his ass. Ino and Naruto almost died laughing, slapping their knees and trying to ask if Kiba was okay in between gasps for air.

"Wow. Kiba's hit a new low in my book." Neji stated with a smirk.

"Kiba's _always_ been at the bottom of _my_ list." Sasuke grinned. "Kiba is—you know, _Kiba_, after all."

"I suppose."

"Hey." They both looked up as Shikamaru headed towards them, his hands in his pockets.

"Hey. Did you come to play?" Sasuke inquired. Shikamaru stopped beside him, staring down at him.

"Did you really just ask me that?" The boy fell onto his butt and then lay down, looking up at the clouds.

"Right, stupid question. I feel like Kiba." The raven looked back out at the three playing, Naruto getting ready to do what Kiba had just shown him.

"Make sure you don't copy him exactly, Naruto." Neji called.

"Fuck you, Hyuuga!"

Naruto laughed, shaking his head. He started running towards the goal with the ball, kicking it when he was close enough. He hit a small dip after his kick, taking a weird step, and fell over, hitting his head hard against the goalpost.

Sasuke and Neji were on their feet instantly, Shikamaru sitting up to figure out what the hell had just happened. Ino and Kiba bolted for the blond, rolling him onto his back.

"Naruto! Naruto, can you hear me?!" Kiba exclaimed, shaking him slightly.

"Move!" Sasuke practically bowled Kiba over in his haste, getting on his knees beside Naruto and hitting his cheek lightly. "Naruto? Naruto, can you hear me? Naruto! Wake up!"

Panic gripped him as the blond lay unconscious on the ground, Ino saying something about going to get the nurse. The raven's hands started shaking as he shook Naruto, repeating his name and slapping his face. He was near hysteria by the time the nurse arrived, and downright insane when an ambulance was called.

It took Shikamaru, Neji and Kiba almost three minutes to pry his hands off of Naruto so the paramedics could get him into the ambulance.

* * *

Naruto groaned, his head turning to one side as his eyebrows furrowed. He felt a strange, uncomfortable sensation in his chest, and forced his eyes open. They were unfocussed for a few seconds, and then finally cleared to show him a white ceiling that didn't belong to him. He looked to the side and saw a window with the blinds closed. It appeared to be night outside. 

_Right... I fell... I must be in the hospital,_ the blond thought as he struggled to sit up. His chest was killing him. He rubbed his eyes, looking around. They landed on Tsunade, who was sitting beside him bed, fast asleep in the chair. He supposed she'd been worried about him.

"Nana." He cleared his throat, his voice having come out scratchy. "Nana."

The woman started, since he'd been much louder the second time, and opened her eyes, looking up at Naruto. Relief flooded her face and she leaned forward, hugging him tightly.

"Naruto. Thank God, you're alive."

"Of course I'm alive, why wouldn't I be?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow, hugging her back. Why did these clothes seem familiar?

"What are you talking about?!" Tsunade leaned away from him, her hands on his shoulders. "Sasuke put his hand through your chest with a Chidori! If Sakura hadn't shown up when she did, you'd have _died_ for sure! I told you Sasuke was no good, I'm going to have him put to death for this!"

Naruto's blood ran cold at her words, his eyes wide. "What?!" He threw the covers off of himself and got unsteadily to his feet, rushing to the window and opening the blinds. He almost died when he saw Konoha, just the way it had been when he'd left. Or had he left?

"Naruto, you shouldn't be standing! Even with the Kyuubi, you're still very injured!"

"I don't understand." he whispered, feeling dizzy. "I don't understand what's happening!" He turned to Tsunade. _"Which world is __**real**__?!"_

* * *

"This is all my fault." Kiba whispered, his hands buried in his hair. "Fuck! If I hadn't asked him to play..." 

"This _isn't_ your fault, Kiba." Ino said firmly. "It was an accident."

"And we still don't know anything for certain, we should all remain calm until we hear some news." Neji insisted.

The three of them, along with Shikamaru and Sasuke, were sitting in the hospital waiting room, Naruto's parents having been called. Tsunade was currently checking Naruto's condition, but based on his lack of response, things weren't looking very good.

Sasuke was just sitting on his own at the end of a row of chairs on the opposite side of all his friends, his hands covering his face. If Naruto went back into his coma, Sasuke didn't know what he would do. It was just cruel for the blond to be awake for such a short period of time before going back into his slumber. Sasuke grit his teeth.

"Ino, you don't understand! Naruto's parents are going to blame me!"

"It wasn't your fault." Sasuke whispered, all four turning to look at the raven as he brought his hands down from his face. "It's mine."

"Sasuke—"

"It's _my_ fault, Ino!" Sasuke snapped, turning to her. She closed her mouth, staring at him. "He told me he liked me, and I said I didn't like him back. And then he hit his head and suddenly he's not waking up? I was his anchor, right? Well I guess I'm not anymore." He buried his face in his hands again, feeling tears in his eyes. "Fuck, I messed _everything_ up!"

"Sasuke, this isn't your fault, either." Ino insisted firmly. "This is _nobody's_ fault, it was an accident."

"Tell that to Naruto's parents when they get here." he whispered.

"Sasuke." All five looked up as Tsunade appeared, her face grim. "I can't reach my daughter or Arashi, could someone please go to their offices and tell them they're needed at the hospital?"

"I'll go." Ino offered, standing up.

"Yeah, I'll go with you." Shikamaru stood, as well.

"You can go get his mother. I'll go to Mr. Uzumaki's office." Neji stated as he also stood, turning to Kiba. "Can I borrow your car?"

The brunette held his keys out numbly, Neji taking them and the three disappearing down the corridor. Tsunade looked at Kiba, concerned, then put her hand on his shoulder.

"Kiba, nobody is going to blame you for this."

"Nana, I'm the one who asked him to play soccer!" Kiba insisted, looking up with tears in his eyes. "How am I going to explain this to his parents?!"

"Kiba, Naruto could've been coming down the stairs and tripped and hit his head on the banister, and the same thing would've happened. This _isn't_ your fault, do you understand me? It was an _accident_. It could've happened anywhere."

"Is he okay?" Kiba asked in a small voice.

Tsunade's lower lip shook and she bit it hard before replying. "It doesn't look good."

"Oh God." Kiba buried his face in his hands, his voice cracking. "Oh my God."

Sasuke stood up, rushing past Tsunade. She made no move to stop him. She didn't have the heart to even _try_ to stop him.

The raven ran down the corridor as fast as he could, the nurses yelling at him not to run in a hospital, but he ignored them. He reached Naruto's room and slammed into it, scaring a nurse half to death as she inspected his monitors.

"You really shouldn't be in here. Only immediate family is—"

"I _am_ family." Sasuke growled, sitting down beside Naruto and grabbing his hand. Fuck, he looked exactly the same as he did for those two years when he was unconscious. The only difference was that he was in a hospital instead of at home.

"Come on, Naruto." Sasuke squeezed his hand tighter. "Come on, don't do this. Listen to me, and come back. You did it before, and you can do it again. Listen to me, dammit!" He stood up, shaking Naruto. "Naruto, wake up! Don't fucking do this to me! Don't do this again!"

"Sasuke!" He turned towards the door, breathing hard with tears on his face. He hadn't even realized he was crying. "That's not going to help." Tsunade walked up to him and gently pried his hands from the front of Naruto's smock. "Come on, let him go."

Sasuke panted as he struggled to make his fingers obey the command his brain was sending out, finally letting the blond go and falling back down onto the chair, covering his face with his hands.

"Don't do this to me, not again." he whispered, his hands shaking. "Come back."

* * *

"Naruto—" 

"No! I'm not crazy! This place doesn't exist, it's all in my head!" Naruto hollered at Tsunade as she grabbed his shoulders.

"Naruto, you're delusional! You almost died, I understand. But _this_ is your _home_! This place is _real_, Naruto!"

"No, it's not!" he insisted. "You don't understand, I'm in a coma! I have to be! I can't stay here, I have to go back!" he started hyperventilating. "I-I had friends. I had a _family_! I had—I had... Sasuke." His eyes stared at the ground as he recalled the last conversation he'd had with the raven. It _had_ to be real.

"Naruto, listen to me." Tsunade had her hands on his shoulders again, and he looked up into her concerned eyes. "It wasn't real. Whatever scenario your mind came up with while you were unconscious wasn't _real_. I'm sorry, but this is how things are. Sasuke isn't your friend, he's an enemy who tried to _kill_ you."

"No!" Naruto shoved her away almost violently. "I won't believe it! It was real! _This_ is the dream! Not that! _This is the dream!_"

The blond turned and threw open the window, jumping out of it. Tsunade called for him to wait, to come back, but he ignored her. He jumped from roof to roof as fast as he could, breathing hard as he made his way home as fast as he could. He had to do this before the Hokage sent ANBU after him.

_Oh, Christ, I'm already thinking like this world is real! This is the dream! It's the dream, and I can prove it! _

Naruto was so confused. A part of him was wondering if this was _really_ the dream, or if the other world was. After all, he didn't remember the other world, only this one, and he'd come back to this one. If he was really in another coma, wouldn't he have come up with a completely new story? This didn't make sense, dammit!

He reached his apartment and ran up the stairs, getting to his door and kicking it in, since he didn't have his key. "I can prove this is the dream." he insisted to himself as he rushed to his room.

He pulled open his closet and rummaged through it for his box of spare kunai, finally locating it and pulling it out. He took a kunai from the box and headed for the bathroom, putting it down on the sink before staring at himself in the mirror.

"If this is a dream, I can control it. If it's real, then I can't. When I pick up this kunai, and cut myself, it's _not_ going to heal. I can control this, because it's a dream, and I say I don't have the Kyuubi inside of me. The Kyuubi doesn't heal me. Kyuubi is just a cat. _My_ cat. It's not a nine-tailed demon. It won't heal me."

He hastily picked up the kunai and sliced into his forearm. Blood instantly started dripping to the ground from his large wound. He waited, staring. Nothing was happening. The Kyuubi wasn't healing it.

"I _knew_ it! This _is_ a dream! All I have to do is get back!" _How did I get back the last time?_ he thought, furrowing his eyebrows. Then, it hit him. He'd died. All he had to do was die, and he could go back to his real world. To his mother, and father. To Sasuke.

"Everything will be okay. This _will_ work." Naruto insisted as he brought the kunai to his left wrist. He hesitated, afraid it was going to hurt "dying" again, but he shook his head, took a deep breath, and slit his wrist. Blood instantly started flowing from the wound at a pace so rapid, Naruto was alarmed, until he remembered that this was a good thing. His hand slick with blood, he took the kunai from his other hand and slit that wrist, too, his vision already fading slightly.

He dropped the weapon to the floor and fell heavily on his ass, leaning back against the wall as he stared up at the light on the ceiling. He reached up with one hand, blood covering his tan skin.

"I'm coming back, Sasuke." he forced out. "Wait for me."

His vision darkened further before soon going black.

And Naruto died.

* * *

Sasuke rubbed his face as he sat in the chair beside Naruto's bed. Minako and Arashi were nowhere to be found. Their offices had been checked, their home, all the phone numbers available had been called, and still nothing. It was as if they'd disappeared off the face of the earth. 

_Bad time for them to have disappeared,_ Sasuke thought sadly. And then, a thought occurred to him. He stood up and went to the door, Tsunade standing near the nurse's station with a clipboard.

"Nana?" She turned to him. "Did you call Sai's house?"

"No, why?" She frowned, tucking her pen away as she handed the clipboard to the nurse beside her.

"I don't know, I just feel like Naruto said something about his parents going to Sai's house."

She nodded. "I'll give them a try, then."

The raven nodded back and returned to the room, sitting down beside Naruto once again and taking his hand. He squeezed it tightly, hoping that Naruto would come back, but it had been almost six hours, and he was still unconscious. He shook his head.

"If you're doing this to punish me, it's working." he whispered to his friend. "Come on, I've suffered enough. Joke's over. Wake up, or I'll kick your ass."

Naruto's heartrate, which had been steady since Sasuke had entered the room, suddenly started slowing down. Sasuke looked up at it with a frown, wondering if it was meant to be doing that. It seemed awfully slow for Sasuke's taste. He sat up straighter, wondering if he should go get help, but the help came for him, instead, when the screen suddenly flat-lined and an alarm went off.

The raven's eyes stared in shock at the flat line on Naruto's screen, the loud beep of the machine echoing in his ears. Naruto had flat lined. Having a flat line meant the heart had stopped beating. If the heart had stopped beating, that meant death, right?

"No! No, Naruto!" Sasuke screamed, shaking the blond. "Wake up! Don't do this!"

Sasuke was wrenched away as people started rushing into the room. He screamed, trying to get back to Naruto, but someone was wrestling him out of the room. Tsunade was already at Naruto's side, barking out orders.

"Naruto, _don't you dare fucking die_!"

* * *

**AN: "I'm so glad this fic has no angst!" --Honestly, WHO did you think you were reading :P This is why Naruto's "And then, Naruto died" line was so plain way back when. I've been planning this from the beginning, kukuku.**


	13. Of Dreamworlds

**AN: Wow, I got a lot of hate-mail for the last chapter... It was fun -grins and nods- **

**Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO! I wanted to write you something, but real life came first T.T Sad, I know. I should give up on real life, lol. If the bills were paid for me, I would do nothing but sit and write XD **

**Disclaimer: They were mine, you know. -hic- They were. I created them, and then K. Masashi just... -hic- He just stole them from me... **

**K. Masashi: Uh huh... keep dreaming... and drinking... **

**I willlll -passes out-**

* * *

Sasuke's fists clenched hard as he stared through the window that looked into Naruto's room, his lower lip quivering as fear coursed through his veins. A nurse was administering CPR while two others were prepping a defibrillator for Tsunade, who was shouting for them to hurry, her hands extended. Sasuke could tell she was trying not to panic, but it was clear that she was on the verge of hysterics. 

The elevator dinged and he heard footsteps running down the corridor, but he ignored them, his eyes focussed on Naruto's heart-rate monitor. It was still a flat line, and he started shaking more at the thought that Naruto might not make it out of this.

More people were running back and forth behind him, but none of them mattered. The only one who did was Naruto.

"Come on." Sasuke whispered, swallowing hard, his eyes stinging because he was refusing to blink. "Come _on_, Naruto."

"Sasuke!" He whipped around, startled, and saw the last two people he ever wanted to see in this type of situation.

Naruto's parents.

"What is it? What happened?" Arashi demanded as they rushed forward. "Tsunade called us at Sai's ho—"

He never got to finish because Minako had screamed, having reached the window and looking inside. She rushed for the door, but Arashi grabbed her, knowing that her going in there would only cause more problems.

Sasuke turned away from them, covering his face with one hand and forcing himself not to cry as he heard Minako crying hysterically behind him, repeating the words "my little boy" amidst the sobs.

When he looked up again, Tsunade was using the defibrillator on Naruto, the blond's body jerking with each shock, his back arching off the bed before falling back onto it. The line remained flat. She shocked him again, Sasuke watching, biting his bottom lip hard enough to taste blood in his mouth and clenching his hands together in prayer.

_Please, please, __**please**__. Don't do this, Naruto, please! Just come back..._

The doctor shocked Naruto one last time, and a large peak appeared on the screen, Sasuke letting out a huge whoosh of air before sinking to the ground, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes. That had been way too close for comfort.

"Shit." he whispered, running one hand through his hair.

Minako was still crying, but Arashi was shushing her, telling her Naruto was alive, and that he was fine. Sasuke watched, not even sure what to say. The two parents just hugged tightly, Minako peeking out to ensure Naruto really was alive and well.

The door opened and Sasuke turned to it before standing, Tsunade walking out, sweat present on her brow as she cleared her throat. The raven could tell she was trying to calm herself down. It couldn't have been easy working on Naruto in there, and he was actually fairly certain that family members weren't supposed to be treated by other family members. He supposed it was because she was the closest doctor present.

"He's fine. It was a close call, but he's alive. Breathing is stable." she said, her voice strained.

"What happened?" Arashi asked, still hugging Minako.

"He hit his head." She winced slightly. "I'm afraid—he's gone back into his coma."

"What?!" Minako demanded, pulling away from Arashi almost violently. "What did you say?!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Tsunade went to hug her, but Minako stumbled back, turning and glaring at Sasuke. The raven was stunned at the intensity in her gaze.

"You were supposed to _watch him_!" she screamed at Sasuke, who pushed back against the wall, as if hoping to disappear through it. He'd never seen her so mad, not even that one time he and Naruto had almost burned down the house when they were twelve.

"Mina—"

"You're his _best friend_! You were meant to watch him, to take _care_ of him! You were supposed to make sure he didn't get hurt! What have you _done_?!"

"Minako!" Tsunade screamed angrily, moving beside Sasuke and putting her hand on his shoulder as he stared guiltily at the floor. "This is _not_ Sasuke's fault! This was an accident! Kiba feels guilty, Sasuke feels guilty, _everyone_ feels guilty. But this is no one's fault, this just happened."

Sasuke pulled away from Tsunade, the doctor looking at him. He avoided her gaze, still.

"I should go."

Before anyone could say another word, Sasuke turned and bolted down the corridor as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Sasuke!" Tsunade called after him, but he was already gone. She sighed.

* * *

Naruto frowned in his sleep, turning his head to the side slightly, struggling to get his eyes to co-operate. Was he back? He could hear someone pacing back and forth in his room, and someone else was holding his hand. His mother and father? He _had_ to be back! 

He forced his eyes open, his vision blurry, and smiled slightly as he turned to look at the person holding his hand. It slowly faded as his vision cleared and he was looking up at Sakura. She had a hitai-ate. He was still dreaming.

"Naruto!" She threw herself at him, hugging him tightly as the other figure in the room rushed beside the bed. It was Sai. Naruto had suspected as much. "Oh, Naruto, I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Me, too." Sai said. "Cause now I can _kill you_!" He launched himself at the blond, but Sakura pushed him away hard with one hand, Sai slamming into the opposite wall, holding his left shoulder angrily. "What were you thinking?!" he hollered at Naruto.

"Huh?" the blond asked, blinking slowly. Everything seemed sluggish in his mind, and he was trying to figure out why Sai was so pissed off.

"Naruto, Tsunade-sama told us about what you dreamed while you were unconscious after I found you. Sai and I were concerned, so we came here to find you, and you were unconscious in your bathroom with your wrists slit." She held one of his hands up, showing the heavy gauze around his wrists. "Kyuubi wasn't healing you, for some reason. You almost died."

"You saved me?" Naruto asked, sitting up. "Shit." He rubbed his forehead.

"What do you _mean_ 'shit'?!" Sai demanded. "Naruto, you almost _died_! _Again_!"

"You two don't understand, this isn't _real_! I'm not actually here! I'm in a coma, and my real self is unconscious and dreaming all this up. You two don't exist."

Sakura's head snapped back before she lowered her gaze, her hands folded in her lap. "So we're just figments of your imagination, is that it?" she asked, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Sakura, it's not like that." Naruto sighed. "It's—complicated. But I don't belong here. I was tyring to get back."

"You're crazy." Sai insisted as he paced back and forth at the end of Naruto's bed, his arms crossed. "Sakura and I are as real as you are, and we're _right here_! How can you even think of saying we don't exist?! You're delusional! You almost _killed_ yourself!"

"That was the only way to get back!" the blond insisted. "I mean, think about it! I slit my wrists because I believed that Kyuubi wasn't real and that my wounds wouldn't heal. That's how I managed to do it! Explain _that_!"

"So you can control Kyuubi's healing abilities. What next? If you start flying, you'll claim this is a dream?" Sai asked dryly.

"Why won't anyone believe me?!" Naruto demanded, getting frustrated.

"Because you're acting crazy!" Sakura finally screamed. Everyone fell silent as her chest heaved, the rosette shaking her head. "Sasuke punched a hole through your chest and when you died, you created an elaborate world where he wasn't a bad person. Now that you know that world was a lie, you're angry and want to find a way back to it, but we're _not_ letting you kill yourself! That wasn't _real_, Naruto! Sasuke's bad, and he's going to be killed. Let it go. Let _him_ go."

"No!" Naruto shouted. "I have to talk to him." He threw the blankets off himself and started to get out of bed when both Sakura and Sai held him back, pushing him back down.

"We're not letting you see Sasuke, Naruto." Sai glared to emphasize his point. "He's going to be put to death, and that'll be the end of that. You're staying here and getting some rest until his execution is over."

"You can't kill him!" Naruto insisted.

"This isn't up for debate." Sakura hissed, Naruto turning to her, stunned. "Tsunade-sama will have him killed tomorrow, and then everything will be fine. _You_ will be fine." She ran her hand through his hair lovingly before forcefully pushing him onto his back again. "Now, lie there and get some rest. Sai and I aren't going anywhere."

The blond cursed as he threw the blankets up over his head and sulked, frowning. Why hadn't it worked? If he was meant to return to his _true_ self upon death in _this_ world, why hadn't that happened? Why was he still here?

_Maybe it has to do with the person,_ Naruto mused. _Sasuke is the one person I trust with my life. I would do anything for him. It was through trusting him that I ended up 'dying' in the first place. So maybe I can't do it myself, maybe __**Sasuke**__ needs to do it. All right, that's fine. I can just stay here until I convince them I feel better, then I can go find Sasuke and have him kill me again._

It seemed so simple. And then he remembered what Sakura had said. Sasuke was going to be killed tomorrow.

His eyes snapped open and he jerked up in bed. If Sasuke was killed, did that mean Naruto wouldn't be able to return home?

Was he going to be stuck here forever?!

* * *

Sasuke couldn't breathe by the time he got home. It had nothing to do with being tired, or the fact that he was crying so hard he could hardly see straight. He just couldn't breathe. Minako blamed him for what happened to Naruto, and the blond had _died_. Yes, he'd come back, but he'd still died! 

The raven slammed through his front door, his mother calling out that he was late and they'd started dinner. He ignored her as he stumbled up the stairs, wheezing hard as he struggled to breathe. He crashed through his door, stumbling over some clothes he'd left lying around and landing on his bed on his stomach, grabbing his pillow and burying his face in it. It was even _harder_ to breathe.

_Good, _he thought, still crying. _I hope I __**suffocate**_

"Sasuke?"

"Go away!" he screamed angrily, lifting his head from the pillow to say those two words before burying it back into the softness and proceeding to suffocate himself again.

He felt a weight on the bed beside him, cursing the fact that he hadn't closed and locked his door, but there was nothing he could do, now. Itachi put his hand on the younger boy's shoulder before rubbing his back gently.

"Sasuke, what's wrong? What happened?"

The raven just shook his head, not wanting to talk about it. He didn't remember ever crying this much before. It had been hard holding back the tears when Naruto was confirmed being back in his coma—and when he'd _died_—but having Minako blame him just made the whole situation a million times worse than it already was. What if Naruto _hadn't_ been resuscitated? What would Minako have said and done then?

"Sasuke, answer me." Itachi's voice was commanding, but there was a definite hint of concern in there. He wanted to know what was wrong with his brother, and he wanted to know _now_.

"Naruto's in another coma." Sasuke sobbed into the pillow, but Itachi managed to make it out, his eyes widening ever so slightly.

"What? Are you sure?"

"Tsunade said so!" Sasuke screamed, looking up from his pillow before burying his face into it again. "And it's all my fault!"

"What are you talking about?" Itachi demanded. "How can this be your fault? Don't blame youself—" Itachi jerked back, startled, as Sasuke sat up and threw his pillow at him hard enough for it to actually almost hurt. And this was a _pillow_. Sasuke was _pissed_.

"It was my fault!" he exploded. "I'm his anchor, right?! I'm the reason he came back, and wouldn't you know, the _second_ I rejected him, he went back into a coma and his _heart fucking stopped_!" He buried his face into the mattress, now, since his pillow was gone. "And Mrs. Uzumaki blames me."

Itachi just stared at the back of Sasuke's head for a few seconds, trying to let it all sink in. Sasuke had said he'd rejected Naruto. In what way? What did he mean by that? Itachi didn't want to ask, but his brother was so upset about this that he felt compelled to.

"What do you mean you rejected him?" he asked in a calm voice. "And how is that even relevant to Naruto's coma?"

The younger Uchiha sighed, sitting up and facing his brother, wiping his tears off his face roughly with his hands. He avoided looking at Itachi as he spoke, too ashamed since he knew for a fact that this was entirely his fault.

"Naruto's gay, and he told me today that he liked me." Sasuke shook his head, covering his face. "Fuck. He admitted he _liked_ me! I know I should be freaked out, but he's my best friend! I told him I was sorry, but I don't see him that way, but we'd always be friends, nothing would ever change between us. Then, he went out on the field, slipped, and banged his head against the goal-post."

"And he went back into his coma?" Itachi asked, confused. He supposed severe trauma to the head after such a long coma could trigger a reaction and cause him to return into it, but Sasuke's belief that it was his fault was just ridiculous. Itachi only wished he could show Sasuke that, too.

"Yeah." Sasuke whispered. "Naruto's gone. Again."

* * *

"Think." Bang. "Think." Bang. "Think." Bang. 

Naruto repeated the word each time he pulled his head away from the wall before banging it into the tile surface once more. He had to find a way to meet with Sasuke, but no one was going to let him. Why would they after what he'd done?

But the blond _needed_ to see him. He couldn't live in this world his whole life, that would just destroy his friends and family. He couldn't do this to them, he _had_ to find a way back! And for that, he needed Sasuke. Why was his head keeping him away from Sasuke?

"This is a dream." He banged his head against the wall again. "And since it's _my_ dream," he banged it again, "I should control it."

He pulled away from the wall and sat down on the toilet lid. Being in the bathroom was the only place he could be alone without Sai and Sakura hovering over him. It didn't have a window, so they weren't concerned with him escaping. But he had to.

"If I can control it, then everything should do as I say, like when Kyuubi didn't heal me." He frowned, pursing his lips. He could do this, he just had to figure out how it would work. Willing Sai and Sakura away was ridiculous, it wouldn't happen—well, it _might_, but it wasn't likely.

"Fuck!" Naruto hit his head with both hands angrily. "If there was just some way for me to get out of this four-wall prison, I could—" Naruto's head snapped up.

He thought about what he'd just been thinking about why Sai and Sakura had let him enter the bathroom. No window. It was because his bathroom was on the inside of the building, and having a window would lead to another apartment. But, since this was _his_ dream, he could change that.

"Okay." He closed his eyes. "Okay." Cracking his neck, Naruto concentrated. He wanted a window to appear on the wall in front of him. Not a huge one, just big enough for him to get through. And it had to lead outside. He wanted to see blue skies and other buildings.

"It'll work. It _has_ to!" Naruto insisted aloud. He kept his eyes shut, then cautiously peeked one open. He grinned, opening both eyes, as a window lay in front of him, a small see-through curtain covering it. It wasn't as big as he'd been hoping, but hey, it was a window.

He pushed the curtains apart and pulled the window open, looking out. He could use chakra to escape down the wall, and then keep using his power to make everything go his way until he reached Sasuke.

Climbing up onto the window sill, he started to exit the bathroom until he wondered if he could make himself fly. Looking back down at the ground, he winced.

"Yeah, not risking that." he said to himself as he continued climbing out, his feet finally making contact with the outer wall. He let go of the ledge and started running down the side of the building, jumping to the ground when he got close enough and bolting down the street. He needed to reach Sasuke before anyone found out he was out of his apartment.

He didn't know where they'd be holding him. Someone like him would have heavy security, so he didn't think he'd be held at the regular prison like last time. He could only assume ANBU headquarters.

"That's a lot of people to get past." he said to himself as he jogged, a frown marring his features.

He supposed he could just make them all fall asleep or something. Would that even work? _Guess there's __**one**__ way to find out,_ he thought. After all, if this failed, the worst they would do is bring him home, and he could just escape again.

He contemplated whether or not to try and have Tsunade change her mind, but he didn't want to risk it. If it didn't work, he'd be stuck there forever. He wasn't going to chance that, fuck _that_ plan, he was finding the Uchiha and getting out of this _now_.

He reached the outside of the ANBU headquarters and sighed, closing his eyes, willing everyone to fall asleep. Then, just because he was a prankster by nature, he grinned slightly as he willed two or three to have an explosive case of diarrhea. Just because he could.

He waited about a minute before entering the headquarters, looking around worriedly. He let out a relieved sigh as he found everyone sleeping. If _anyone_ tried to convince him this _wasn't_ a dream, he would demand an explanation on how he miraculously got a window in his bathroom, and how he'd gotten over fifty ANBU to fall asleep.

The blonde made his way towards the basement stairs, knowing they had a few cells down there. He could only hope he'd been right with his deductions, but based on his GPA in his world, he was pretty confident with himself. It appeared some of his _real_ traits had stayed with him this time.

Reaching the bottom, he found four cells, two of which were occupied. The furthest one had Sasuke, and unlike everyone else—including the prisoner beside him—he was awake. He was sitting back against the wall, staring down at the ground. Naruto moved up to the bars, Sasuke glancing up with his eyes.

"So," the Uchiha looked up completely, "I guess you're here to forgive me."

"No." Naruto dead-panned. "I'm here to ask you to kill me."

* * *

Mikoto walked up to Sasuke's door and knocked, putting her ear closer to it. "Sweetie? Are you awake?" 

"Yeah, still haven't managed to suffocate myself." Sasuke replied. Sadly, he didn't sound like he was being sarcastic. Mikoto sighed.

"I take it you don't want to go to school again?" she asked, wringing her hands together. It had been three days since Naruto's relapse, and Sasuke hadn't left his room. He'd barely eaten, and he refused to see anyone after Itachi had said something that had angered him and the elder Uchiha had been chased out of the room by some very nasty swearwords and a few of the raven's possessions. Mikoto knew he was going through a hard time, she didn't want to push him.

"No." Sasuke replied. "I'm fine here."

"Honey, school might make it easier." she said cautiously. "It'll give you something else to focus on. Or maybe we can go see a movie? I can call in sick."

"No, mum."

Mikoto leaned against the door, closing her eyes. "Honey, I'm worried about you. Can you—can you please just come out and talk to me?"

"Just leave me alone."

She opened her mouth to say something else, but the doorbell rang. She closed it, looking at her son's door for a few seconds before sighing and heading for the stairs to answer the door. She heard Itachi's door open and his footsteps walk down the hall to the bathroom.

Mikoto opened the front door and was shocked to see Naruto's mother standing on the porch. She had her arms crossed, her hair messy and unwashed. Large bags were under eyes that were puffy from crying, and she looked between being embarrassed and ashamed, though Mikoto wasn't sure why.

"Mina! Hi!" she said awkwardly, the other woman's appearance coming as a shock to her.

"Hello." She sniffed.

"I heard about Naruto. I'm so sorry." She moved aside to let the woman in. She entered the house, Mikoto closing the door behind her. "If there's anything I can do to help—"

"There is." Minako interrupted. "I need to borrow your son."

"He won't come out of his room." Mikoto wrung her hands together. "He feels guilty for what happened. Keeps insisting it's his fault."

"I see." The blonde woman lowered her eyes guiltily before looking up the stairs. "Could I try to talk to him?"

"Of course, go right upstairs. Would you like some coffee?" Mikoto asked as she started for the kitchen.

"No, thank you. I shouldn't be long."

"All right." Minako watched the other woman leave before she started climbing the stairs. She'd been to Sasuke's many times, she knew exactly where his room was, but she tried to pretend she didn't so that she could prolong the inevitable. She _had_ to talk to him. She'd wanted to talk to him three days ago, but hadn't had the courage to. It had taken this long to work it up, and she _still_ didn't feel confident.

Reaching his room after no longer being able to stall, she brought her hand up and knocked hesitantly, half-hoping he was asleep and she could live with knowing she'd tried and there was nothing she could do... until later, of course.

But he wasn't asleep.

"Mum, I told you, I'm _not_ going to school!" Sasuke screamed angrily. Minako closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Sasuke, it's Minako." She held her breath, waiting for a response. She received none. "I-I know you probably don't want to talk to me, and I completely understand, but do you think you could listen?" Again, she got no response. "Sasuke, please." She closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against the door. "I've already lost one son, don't make me lose another because of a stupid mistake."

She didn't know what got through to him, maybe it was the admission that she regarded him as a son, but there was movement within the room and the lock clicked. Sasuke opened the door. He looked almost as bad as Minako did, his hair sticking up on one side of his head, his eyes red from lack of sleep, and his skin pale.

He moved aside, motioning her in, and she stepped into his room, sitting down on the edge of his bed. He closed his door and walked over to his desk, sitting down in the chair and locking his hands together, looking at his best friend's mother.

"I know nothing I say now can take back the pain I caused you at the hospital." Minako avoided his gaze, looking at the ground instead. "I would've come sooner, but I didn't know what to say to you. Back then, I was still in shock. I was angry, and upset, and the easiest person to blame at that moment in time was you, and you didn't deserve that." she looked up at Sasuke. "Sweetie, I'm so, so sorry for what I said. I know it wasn't your fault, it was nobody's fault. Naruto slipped. It could've happened at home, where I'd have blamed myself, or even Arashi, just because I'd need someone to blame. It was unfair of me, and I'm so very sorry I said those awful things to you." She stood up, her hands wrung together nervously. "I was—hoping that you would come visit Naruto at the hospital. I know that he'd be glad to have you there. You've always been there for him before, I know he would appreciate it. _I_ would appreciate it."

She stood in front of Sasuke, waiting nervously for his response. He just stared at her before standing up and hugging her. She let out a small sob before hugging him back, burying her face in his shoulder.

"I know you didn't mean it." he whispered. "But I still feel like it was my fault."

"It wasn't your fault, sweetie." Minako insisted. "I'm just a horrible person for making you think it was."

"It's okay." Sasuke insisted, trying to pull away, but Minako wouldn't let him, so he continued hugging her awkwardly. "Can I go see him?"

"Of course!" Minako laughed slightly, finally releasing him and wiping her tears. "I asked you to come, remember? I just need to go home and get a few things. And shower. You should do the same." She laughed.

"I guess so." The raven smiled.

"I'll come pick you up in an hour or so."

Sasuke nodded as the woman bid him farewell and left his room, closing the door. He sat down on the edge of his bed, his hands clenched together tightly and his jaw clenching. He'd brought Naruto back before, he could do it again.

Naruto had to know that no matter what, Sasuke was going to bring him back.

* * *

Naruto stared right back at Sasuke as the raven blinked, trying not to show the shock on his face. The blond knew what it must've sounded like. Sasuke probably thought he was crazy, but Naruto _knew_ this was a dream. Everything proved it. 

"What?"

"You don't strike me as the type to need me to repeat myself." Naruto crossed his arms. "You're too smart for that. I asked you to _kill_ me."

"I caught that, I just needed to hear it again to make sure _you_ understood, dobe."

Naruto rolled his eyes, getting annoyed. How long was this going to take? He just wanted to get home, already. And Sasuke was his one-way ticket out of here.

He thought about the door being unlocked and then pushed it open. It squeaked loudly, Sasuke staring at it with no expression on his face, but Naruto knew he was stunned. He probably thought the guards hadn't locked it or something.

"I heard all about your psychotic moment." Sasuke's eyes moved from the door back to Naruto. "You believe you have another world."

"It's not psychotic, it's the truth. This world is fake. I want to go home, back to my parents, my friends—and you. You're still a bastard, but at least you're there for me."

"Clearly _that_ world is the dream." Sasuke stated dryly.

"Fine, then why aren't you doing as I asked?"

"Because you asked."

Naruto just about fell over. "What?! Because I _want_ you to kill me, you're saying no, even though it's also what _you_ want?!"

"Pretty much."

"God, you're insufferable!" Naruto yelled angrily. "If I just _force_ you to kill me, knowing my luck, it won't work!"

"_Come back, Naruto."_

The blond looked up at the ceiling. "I'm trying! Will you give me a minute!"

Sasuke's left eyebrow rose slowly as he watched Naruto begin to pace back and forth in the cell, muttering under his breath about variables and consequences. The raven was stunned the blond knew such big words. And he had to admit, Naruto _did_ seem like a different person.

"You're serious, aren't you? You _really _believe there's another world."

Naruto stopped, looking at his friend. "Yes."

"And I'm in it?"

"You're very important in it. Just as you were here."

Sasuke looked at the ground. "Do I love you?"

At that, the blond winced, and he looked away from Sasuke, focussing on the bars to the neighbouring cell.

"No. You don't."

"Well then, guess that world isn't all bad." Naruto looked back as Sasuke stood up, his eyes bleeding red. The blond waited a few seconds before he was staring into the Sharingan. "I've got nothing to lose, anyway. I'm going to be killed tomorrow, right?"

"Yes. And this is something you want. To kill me. Just—for fuck's sake, do it _right_ this time." Naruto sighed, exasperated. "You suck at killing me."

"Not for a lack of trying."

"No kidding. You'd think you'd have it down pat, by now." Naruto pulled off his shirt, as if it would help Sasuke aim better or something. "Whenever you're ready."

The raven did a few hand seals before holding his left wrist with his right hand. Chakra immediately became visible as the loud, shrieking sound of Chidori filled the basement. Sasuke stared up at Naruto, the blond's face devoid of any fear. This surprised the Uchiha.

"You can't take this back once my fist is in your chest."

"You almost sound like you care about me." Naruto teased.

"Well," Sasuke grinned. "You _are_ my best friend."

"Yeah. And you're mine. I guess if I'm wrong, you'll get your Mangekyou Sharingan. Either way, we both win."

"I guess."

Sasuke didn't waste any more time. He flew forward, aiming his fist perfectly so it would hit Naruto's heart. The door to the basement slammed open, Tsunade screaming, but Sasuke had already punched his fist into Naruto's chest. The blond's breath froze in his lungs as blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. It hurt. A lot.

If he was wrong, he'd just condemned himself to death. If he was wrong, Sasuke was going to kill everyone he loved to escape so he could kill his brother.

Thankfully, he was _not_ wrong. And as Naruto died in his dreamworld, his hand twitched in the real world.

* * *

**AN: It's his birthday, how could I possibly kill him for real? That'd just be mean ;P Anyone got a tally on how many times he's died in this fic? -sweatdrop-**


	14. Of Changes

**AN: Apparently, there's some confusion, lol. The real world is the REAL world. The dreamworld is the dreamworld :P Narutoverse equals not real.**

**Also, Sai, I haven't forgotten about you! I'm sorry, I haven't had time to check out your page, but I promise I haven't forgotten! I'm gonna do it as soon as I have time, and I'll send you AE pictures -smile-**

**I'm SO sorry for the delay... I've had essays due every week -cough to books I haven't read cough- since the first week of October, so I've been STRESSED TO THE MAX! Found some time to myself to write for a little bit, so--again, sorry. Bear with the fourth year university student who doesn't want to have to stay in school for another year T.T (Three essays to go! And by the time I finish one, I'll have another two added on, I bet you anything!)**

**Disclaimer: -bangs on K. Masashi's door- Oh, come on! You know you wanna share! Your brother shares! YOUR BROTHER IS NICER THAN YOU!**

* * *

The raven shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked down the hospital corridor with Minako, the woman looking better than she did before, but still not as lively as she had the last little while, since Naruto had woken up. 

He could see Arashi standing in the corridor with a cup of coffee in his hand, obviously waiting for Minako to return. When she reached him, he kissed her cheek before patting Sasuke's shoulder as he passed. It was his turn to go home and shower.

"I'm going to get myself a coffee, would you like something?" Minako asked.

"I can get it for you." the raven insisted, but she shook her head.

"No, no. Please, go talk to Naruto. I'll be back shortly." She forced a smile and patted his shoulder before turning to head to the cafeteria.

Sasuke watched her go, hoping she really _had_ forgiven him. She seemed very sincere and she'd looked like she was upset with herself for what she'd said, so he was sure she was fine. She probably still felt guilty, but Sasuke was there, now. He would bring Naruto back.

He walked into the blond's room, a little depressed as he noticed all the tubes coming from him. He sighed as he sat down in the chair beside the bed, taking Naruto's hand in his.

"Naruto? Can you hear me?" The blond didn't respond. "I suppose not, why would I think that just because it worked once, it would work again?" he sighed, rubbing Naruto's hand unconsciously with his free one.

He pressed Naruto's hand against his forehead as he sighed, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry I said no, Naruto. I'm sorry that I don't feel the same way, but you're my best friend. I wasn't going to lie to you. And I'd never stop being your friend, no matter what. You're too important."

"You're really something, Uchiha."

Sasuke just about fell out of the chair, but instead stood up fast, dropping Naruto's hand and looking at the door. Sai was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, a small smile on his face.

"Sai. I didn't hear you come in."

"I'm stealthy like that." He shrugged, moving into the room and shifting so his hands dangled at his sides, now. "How's he doing?"

"Okay, I guess." Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets, looking down at the unconscious blond. "I can't spend another two years without him, Sai." the raven whispered. "I can't."

"Nor can I, though I'd hoped you'd realized by now why _you_ can't last without him."

The Uchiha turned to him, cocking an eyebrow in confusion. Sai didn't say any more, he just leaned down and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. The blond didn't react, so the older boy sighed and pulled away before turning his back on Sasuke and heading for the door.

"Keep talking, Uchiha. No matter where he is, Naruto will always follow the sound of your voice." He closed the door behind him.

Sasuke blinked, confused, as he sat back down. Sai had acted really strange just now. What did he mean by he'd hoped Sasuke would understand why he couldn't last without Naruto? Wasn't it for the same reasons as everyone else?

He shrugged and looked back towards the blond to reach out and grab his hand, but was stunned to find he was already holding it. When had _that_ happened?!

_Whatever, it's not important. I need to keep talking. I __**have**__ to bring him back!_

"Fuck, Naruto, don't do this to us." Sasuke blurted out, holding the blond's hand against his forehead again, but not closing his eyes this time. "Come back, Naruto." he whispered.

It hurt to be here and see his best friend like this again. It hurt to imagine that Naruto might be gone for good, this time. And it was his fault. Regardless of what anyone said, this was his fault. Minako was right, he should've been watching him. He should've known that Naruto was still not completely safe. One hit to the head and he'd gone right back into his coma. And God only knew when he'd be coming back.

"Come on, don't be selfish. Think of everyone else. Think of how we all feel without you. How _I_ feel without you. Naruto..." Sasuke trailed off, his heart constricting. He couldn't understand what he was feeling, he just knew that he was close to tears right now, and he wasn't sure why.

He bowed his head and sighed deeply, trying to calm himself down, when he felt the hand he was holding twitch. His head jerked back up and he stared at Naruto. His eyes were still closed, but he'd _definitely_ felt that twitch!

"Naruto? Naruto, can you hear me?" He stood up, leaning over the blond. He didn't move. "Naruto, please God, if you can hear me, just twitch your hand again! Please!"

Nothing happened for a few seconds, then Sasuke felt the blond's fingers tightening around his hand. He let out a loud laugh, covering his mouth with one hand before gripping the side of the bed with it, his other hand squeezing Naruto's back.

"Thank God, asshole. Fuck, thank God. I'll be right back, okay? Right back!" He let Naruto's hand go and ran to the door, leaning out. "Tsunade! Tsunade, come quick!"

He realized it was probably not the best thing in the world to say, because Minako dropped her coffee cup and bolted towards the room in a panic, thinking maybe the blond's heart had stopped once again. Tsunade was right on her heels, both women running into the room at full speed.

"What is it?" Tsunade scanned all the machines with worried eyes as Minako's went straight to the heart-rate monitor. "Sasuke, what happened?" The doctor turned to look at him. He just laughed slightly, shaking his head. They were looking at the wrong thing. Machinery.

"How about looking at Naruto?" He crossed his arms and smiled.

Both women blinked, then turned to the blond. It took them a few seconds to register what he was trying to tell them. Naruto's eyes were open, looking around slowly.

"Naruto!" Minako shrieked before hugging him tightly. Tsunade shushed her, since they _were_ in a hospital, but she was smiling, her hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Oh, thank God, my baby is back!"

"Mum, I can't breathe." Naruto managed to get out.

"Sorry! Sorry." She pulled away, sitting down and grabbing his hand. "Oh, sweetheart, you had me so worried."

"I had myself worried." he admitted, laughing slightly and groaning, sitting up. Tsunade hit a button on the bed controls to make the back come up so he could lean against it. "I started wondering which world was real, but I was pretty confident this one was the real one."

"It is." Sasuke smiled from the foot of the bed. "Welcome back."

"Thanks." Naruto laughed. "Both times, I had to get killed by you to come back." Sasuke winced. "It's not a bad thing, Sasuke, don't worry. I'm back, right? And that's all that matters."

"It is." Minako kissed his forehead. "Oh, your father's going to be so upset he missed this _again_." She giggled. "He went home to shower, he should be back any minute."

"How long was I unconscious for?" Naruto asked. "My arms and legs feel fine, so—a day? Two?"

"Four." Tsunade said as she shone her flashlight into his eyes one at a time.

"Four days have passed? Wow, only one or two did in my dreamworld. Time sure moves slowly in there." Naruto frowned. "Or quickly, since I had an entire life in two years. That doesn't make any sense." He pouted, crossing his arms and frowning. He supposed maybe because he knew it wasn't real, he'd made time slow down unintentionally. Ah, who knew? _He_ certainly didn't understand his brain, so why would anyone else?

"Oh, honey." Minako giggled and hugged him again. "I'm so glad you're awake again. I was really worried about you."

"I'm glad I'm awake, too." He hugged her back, smiling at Sasuke.

The raven's own smile faded and he looked away, shifting his weight. "I better go. I haven't been to school since your accident, so I'm gonna go home and get some rest so I can go tomorrow. I'm glad you're better. See you later." Sasuke rushed out of the room, clenching his fists at his sides as he hurried down the corridor.

What the heck was _wrong _with him?!

* * *

Sai threw a baseball up at the ceiling as he lay on a bed, catching it with one hand before changing hands and throwing it again. He caught it before repeating the process, watching the ball fall each time he threw it into the air. 

He heard the front door open and close, and people talking before a set of footsteps climbed the stairs. He ignored them, concentrating on his ball. He threw it up once more before the door opened and the person standing in the doorway gave out a startled shout.

Sai missed the ball.

"Ow! _That's_ gonna leave a mark." He groaned as he sat up, rubbing his forehead.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?! And put that down, that baseball has sentimental value!" Sasuke grabbed the ball off the bed, putting it back where it belonged on the shelf.

"I got bored waiting for you. How's Naruto?"

"If you'd stayed a little longer, you would've seen him wake up."

"Oh, I knew he'd wake up." Sai shrugged, shifting so he was sitting cross-legged on the comforter. "You weren't there for a while, so his anchor was gone. I knew that once we re-introduced you, he'd wake up. I'm glad he's okay."

"Yeah, me too." Sasuke sat down at his desk, turning his chair to face Sai before spinning it from side to side with his foot. "What exactly are you doing here?"

"Can't I just be here to visit you?"

"If it's you? No." Sasuke stopped the spinning, leaning down further in his chair. "The only person you visit without having an ulterior motive is Naruto. So, what do you want?"

Sai smiled at Sasuke, one of those obnoxious smiles that made it obvious the other boy was going to be talking in riddles. Sasuke _hated_ riddles. Maybe that was why Sai always gave them to him.

"I think we need to talk."

"Isn't that what we were just doing?"

"No, I was talking, you were being smart."

"Why fight nature?" Sasuke asked with a grin.

"Now you're just being sarcastic." Sai fell back onto the bed with a sigh, staring up at Sasuke's ceiling again. "I want to talk about Naruto."

_Uh oh,_ Sasuke winced. _If Sai tells me to stay away from him, I'm going to pound his ass, chop him up into itty bitty pieces, and dissolve him into the carpet._ He glared at the other boy without really meaning to.

"Don't worry, Uchiha, it's nothing bad." Sai said. Even without _seeing_ the glare, he could feel its intensity.

"Then what is it? I'm not really in the mood for riddles." he muttered., turning to look out his window. Nothing Sai said was going to be of any interest to him.

"Naruto admitted how he felt about you, right?"

"And?" Sasuke asked dryly, turning back to Sai.

"And what did you say?"

"I'm not gay if _that's_ what you're asking."

"Oh, you have got to be shitting me!" Sai sat up, throwing his hands in the air. "Are you really _that_ stupid, or do you just worry about what people will say?!"

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked with a frown, not liking where this conversation was headed.

"Uchiha, when Naruto was unconscious, you visited him every day. You blew other people off for him. You did everything you could, and eventually even managed to bring him back. Back when Naruto and Sakura started dating, you spoke to me about feeling weird, and about how you didn't like that Naruto was dating her."

"It's because I hated her."

"It's because you were _jealous_!" Sai practically screamed.

"Hey, I fucking hate Sakura, don't try and convince me I wanted her."

"Not of Naruto! Of _Sakura_! You _wanted_ Naruto, but you couldn't have him, _that's_ why you hated her so much! You guys never used to hate each other this much, it's only because of your feelings for Naruto that this happened! Fuck, Sasuke, _everyone_ knows you're gay and hot for Naruto. How can you be the _only_ one who doesn't?"

Sasuke got to his feet and threw open his door. "Get the fuck out of my room."

"Are you fucking serious?!" Sai jumped off the bed, coming right up to Sasuke. "You still don't get it, do you? Think long and hard about it, Uchiha. And if you still don't get it, then you're dumber than I thought." He turned and started walking out of the room. "Don't wait until it's too late. He's not going to be around forever. And other people will come knocking."

Once he was past the threshold, Sasuke slammed the door hard, glaring at the wooden door. Sai didn't know what he was talking about.

* * *

Naruto yawned as he walked into the school, rubbing the back of his head. He'd been forced to wake up early since he hadn't been able to get a hold of Kiba or Sasuke since he was discharged from the hospital. Since the two were unavailable, that left his mother to drive him to school, and since she usually woke him up on her way out, it just threw his entire day out of whack. 

He trudged up to his locker, yawning again as he did the combination, and just about jumped out of his skin when he was hugged from behind and swung violently from side to side.

"Narukins!"

"You're back so soon."

"Can't... breathe..." he choked out as the hold on him tightened even further. The pressure disappeared and he fell back onto his feet, clutching his chest as he turned to face the two most opposite people in the world.

"We heard you were back, and we're so glad!" Genma twirled, which caused even Raidou to cock an eyebrow.

"I'm happy to see you're all right." Raidou smiled. "Back on your feet and back in school already, huh? I'd expect nothing less from you." he smiled.

"Well, to be honest, I only came because I was hoping to talk to Sasuke." Naruto gripped the strap of his bag tightly with both hands. "I—haven't spoken to him since before my second coma, and the conversation we'd had right before was..." He trailed off as he noticed Genma and Raidou both leaning forward, as if waiting expectantly for something. "Um... personal?"

"What?!" Genma clutched his head with both hands. "You can't do that to us!" He grabbed the blond's shoulders and started shaking him violently. "I'll _shake_ it out of you!"

"Genma!" Raidou pried the man's hands off of Naruto's shirt, the blond leaning against the lockers and holding his head. His vision was swimming but slowly came back into focus.

"That's so mean!" Genma whined, running on the spot. Raidou and Naruto cocked eyebrows again. "I wanna know!"

"You sound like a child."

"You _act_ like one." Genma batted his eyelashes at Raidou.

"_I_ act like one?!" The scarred man demanded, then took a deep breath, calming himself down. "I do believe you've harassed Naruto long enough, we should head back for the lounge."

"Okay." Genma pouted. "Bye, Narukins!"

Raidou dragged Genma away as the man waved enthusiastically over his shoulder. Naruto didn't let out the breath he was holding until Genma was long out of sight. He turned back to his locker, getting it open and switching out his books. Once he was done, he closed it, and then just stared at it. He didn't know what to do. Sasuke had been there when he woke up, but then he'd left and Naruto hadn't heard from him since.

A knot formed in his stomach at the thought of Sasuke lying. He hadn't been cool with it at all, he'd been disgusted, and now he and Sasuke were never going to be friends again. It was going to be just like in his dream. Sasuke was going to leave him.

The blond brought his hand up to his heart and clenched the material of his shirt right above it, gritting his teeth. He had to trust that the Uchiha wasn't going to freak out on him. He had to trust that they would be all right. He couldn't let their friendship be a lie.

_But it already is, isn't it? Since I don't want to be his friend. Since I think of him as so much more..._

"Naruto!" The blond started and turned, Kiba racing down the corridor towards him. Naruto was worried he wasn't actually going to _stop_, but he ended up screeching to a halt in front of him and hugging him tightly. Naruto was stunned.

"Dude, I'm so fucking sorry! Oh my God, I'm so sorry I made you play soccer! It was stupid of me, I'm so sorry! Please don't hate me, dude, I swear I'll do anything you ask! I'm so fucking sorry, dude, you have no fucking idea!"

"Kiba, calm down!" Naruto laughed slightly, patting his back as he tried to pull away. "It wasn't your fault. I slipped." He finally freed himself and smiled at him. "I'm glad you were concerned, though. At least I know you care."

"Of course I care!" Kiba exclaimed. "You're one of my best friends, dude, how could I _not_?!"

"Chill, dude. You're freaking me out." Naruto laughed, patting his shoulder. "It's fine. I'm fine. Everything is fine. Don't worry. It wasn't your fault."

"I'm glad." Kiba sighed, relieved before remembering something. "Oh, I got something for you." He opened his bag and fished around in it before pulling out a card. He handed it to Naruto and the blond smiled as he noticed his group of friends on the front, the picture taped onto some construction paper.

The blond almost had a heart attack when he noticed Gaara was in the picture, and he looked up at Kiba, the brunette shrugging, smiling slightly.

"He's a good guy. You were talking to him a lot at lunch, so when you went back into dreamland, we had him sit with us. We've been forced to hang out with him before, but we never actually got to know him. He's a cool guy; really likes you."

Naruto opened the card and saw numerous messages for him from his friends. Ino, Shikamaru, Gaara, Neji—everyone.

Well, almost.

He frowned as he noticed Sasuke's handwriting was missing, and turned to the front again, looking at the picture. He wasn't in that, either.

"How come..." His throat closed up and he swallowed hard, forcing himself to calm down. There was probably a rational explanation. There _had_ to be. "Why isn't Sasuke in this?"

"Oh." Kiba looked at the card in Naruto's hand, then back at the blond. "He wouldn't do it."

Naruto's heart tore itself to shreds.

"Oh, I see." he whispered, lowering his head so his bangs hid his eyes. That hurt.

"Oh, shit, dude! No, no, not like that." Kiba grabbed Naruto's shoulders. "Sasuke wouldn't leave his room the whole time you were in your second coma. He was too depressed. Shit, sorry, that came out totally wrong."

Naruto looked up, relief flooding his body at Kiba's words. Maybe Sasuke was telling the truth when he said they'd always be friends, no matter what. He was so glad, he'd been scared for a minute.

"Speaking of Sasuke, where is he?" Naruto looked over Kiba's shoulder, as if the raven had been hiding behind him or something.

"Fuck if I know." Kiba shrugged. "I went to pick him up this morning and his mother said that he'd told her I was coming early and she'd assumed I'd already picked him up. He was already gone, so I just figured he was here. Beats me why he lied."

"Hm, whatever." Naruto shrugged as well. "We should head to homeroom."

"Yeah, maybe duck-butt is already there."

Kiba wrapped his arm around Naruto's shoulders and rubbed his knuckles against the blond's head as they walked, the two of them laughing before Naruto shoved him away. They reached their classroom and opened the door, finding Sasuke already sitting there, reading a book. Naruto smiled, falling down beside him.

"Hey Sasuke. I tried calling you when I got out of the hospital."

"I was busy."

Kiba cocked an eyebrow as Naruto's head snapped back. His reply had been so curt; so rude.

"Oh. I hope I didn't disturb you with my calls, I was just hoping to bum a ride this morning since I couldn't reach Kiba."

"Next time, call Kiba."

Naruto just stared at Sasuke, unsure of what to say, now. Sasuke was being such a prick to him. What had he done?

"Sorry." He turned away from Sasuke, hugging himself and staring down at the table in front of him. He didn't want to say anything else, lest Sasuke start yelling at him.

"Dude, what's your problem? Get up on the wrong side of the cave this morning?" Kiba demanded.

"None of your fucking business!" Sasuke snapped, snapping his book closed and standing up. "Just give me some space for two God damn seconds!" He grabbed his stuff and moved to a seat across the room before turning his back to them and continuing his book.

Naruto stared after him in shock, his chest hurting again. He let out a groan and reached up to grab it, his hands shaking. It hurt so fucking bad.

He'd lost Sasuke. Even in the real world, he'd lost him.

What was the point of having woken up?


	15. Of Denial

**Disclaimer: -cackles maniacally while driving away with a tied up Kiba in the back seat- Let's see you catch me _now_, K. Masashi!**

**AN: The evil word is back again, sorry :(**

**Also, new OTP: SargeBed -passes out-**

* * *

Sasuke slammed his locker and stomped down the corridor towards the exit, thanking God it was the end of the day. This had been the hardest day of his life, but until he could figure out what Sai meant—and prove him wrong—he was staying away from Naruto. He just needed to clear up a few things. 

"It's not gonna work." Someone sing-songed, and he turned to glare at the owner of that annoying, sickeningly sweet voice.

"What?"

"Your little 'plan' or whatever." Sakura swayed her hips as she came closer to Sasuke. "Just because you're pretending to hate Naruto doesn't mean I'm about to just let you into my group so you can try to date me."

"You flatter yourself, the _last_ thing I want is to be a part of your retarded posse." He hissed, turning his back on her and continuing for the door. She appeared beside him, matching his strides.

"Why else would you be such a dick to Naruto, then? Did you finally come out of the closet and he rejected you?"

"What the fuck makes you think I'm gay?!" Sasuke screamed, stopping in the middle of the corridor and rounding on her. Numerous people within hearing range froze, turning to look at him, but his eyes remained focussed on Sakura's amused ones.

"Puh-lease." Sakura grinned. "You're more of a fag than Naruto is."

"Don't use that fucking term!" Sasuke hollered, shoving her hard before stalking towards the door again, ignoring anything else she may say to him.

He jumped down the front steps two at a time before shoving his hands in his pockets and heading for the bus stop. Did _everyone_ think he was gay? No one thought Naruto was, so why was it that suddenly because the blond had come out of the closet, everyone assumed Sasuke was, too? He was _not_ gay!

Okay, so he'd never had a girlfriend before, but so what? Naruto had had one, and _he_ was gay. Just because he happened to prefer being single didn't mean that he was gay or anything. Some people spent their whole lives single. Did that make them homosexual? No! What was _wrong_ with everyone?!

He grumbled to himself as he climbed onto the bus, dropping his bag on the seat next to him so no one would sit there and then crossing his arms, pouting slightly. He tried to think back to when he was fourteen and he'd first learned that Naruto was going to be dating Sakura. He'd felt weird, but it was only because he'd thought Naruto was going to start ignoring him. They were best friends, and did everything together. Having a girl in the mix just messed up the cake.

Sasuke sighed, leaning down further in his seat, staring out the window at the passing scenery. He was so caught up in his thoughts about his relationship with Naruto that it took him almost four blocks before he realized he'd missed his stop. He hastily rang the bell and got off at the next stop, walking back towards his house with a deep sigh.

_Maybe I should talk to mum and dad..._ he frowned. _No, I'm not talking to them about it, that's just weird. Maybe Itachi? I'm sure he'd help me out. And he knows Naruto better, anyway._

He bit his bottom lip, opening the door and kicking off his shoes. His mother wasn't home, but that was normal, since it was only about three-forty-five or so. When he stayed over at Naruto's during the blond's coma, he didn't get home until close to six, so it made sense that she was home back then. He just hoped Itachi was in right now. He had a weird schedule.

"Itachi? You home? I need to talk to you." he yelled up the stairs as he dropped his bag in the front hall and made his way to the second floor.

"I'm working on a paper, can this wait?" his brother called back as Sasuke reached his door and looked in. The older brother was sitting at his desk with a pen in his hand, making notes on a stack of papers, which was obviously his printed out essay. He scratched his head with the end of the pen as he read before making another note.

"Actually, this is sort of important." Sasuke winced. He felt bad taking his brother away from his work, but he really needed to talk to him about this, and who _knew_ when Itachi would be done with that paper? He liked procrastinating. It was like the art of university students. (1)

Itachi sighed, dropping his pen and turning around, pulling his glasses off of his nose and rubbing his eyes. "What is it?"

"Well..." Sasuke hesitated as he walked into the room, sitting down on the bed. He started playing with the corner of Itachi's bedspread as the older boy regarded him, somewhat annoyed. He checked his watch, cleared his throat, then looked at Sasuke again.

"This going to take all day?"

"I'm just—confused." Sasuke sighed, rubbing his face. "Remember when I told you about Naruto admitting how he felt?"

"Uh huh." Itachi replied, still looking annoyed.

"Well, Sai cornered me after Naruto woke up, and he insists that I'm—well, gay for Naruto."

"And what do _you_ think?"

"I think I'm straight."

"Then why am I wasting valuable paper time on this conversation?" Itachi inquired, turning back to his desk and putting his glasses back on.

"It's not that simple!" Sasuke insisted, standing up. Itachi turned back to face him. "I just—what he said really got to me, and now, I don't know _what_ I think."

"You just said you thought you were straight."

"I do think that!"

"But you're thinking you're not?"

"Yes!"

Itachi stared at Sasuke for a few seconds. "Freud would have a field day with you, little brother."

"Look, I don't _know_ what I think." Sasuke fell back onto the bed, clenching his fists. "I mean, we've been together forever, and when he started dating Sakura, sure, I was annoyed, but only because I thought that she would steal him from me."

"And why did you hang out with him all the time?"

"Because he's fun to hang out with." Sasuke replied immediately. "Naruto has got to be the coolest person I've ever met."

"Why did you visit him every day while he was in his coma?" Itachi tried not to make it obvious he was enjoying this conversation.

"Because he's my best friend and I wanted him to know that he always would be, no matter what. And I ended up bringing him back, so whatever, right?"

"Right." Itachi leaned back in his seat. "Why is this bothering you so much right now?"

"Huh?" Sasuke blinked.

"It's a fairly straight-forward question, Sasuke."

Itachi stared at his brother, waiting to see what kind of answer he'd come up with. The younger boy stared at the ground hard as he contemplated his answer, and Itachi wondered if he was ever going to figure it out. It was one of those 'everyone knows but you' things.

Heck, even their _parents_ knew Sasuke was gay for Naruto. The only one who needed to get it through his brain was _Sasuke_. And—well, and Naruto, since he wasn't entirely convinced, either, what with the rejection and all.

"I guess... I'm not sure why." Sasuke raked his hand through his hair in frustration. "Fuck, Sai should've kept his Goddamn mouth _shut_!"

"Why? Because it's making you doubt yourself?"

"Yes! I am a straight man! I love Naruto purely as a friend! We are _friends_!"

"Of course you are." Itachi sighed. His brother was as thick as usual. "Tell you what, I'll help you with this problem, but you need to wait until this weekend. I need to get my paper done." He jerked his thumb behind him in the direction of his paper. "I'll type out a bunch of scenarios for you, and you'll be able to establish how you truly feel. You may be gay, but in denial." Sasuke opened his mouth to argue but Itachi raised one hand. "I'm not saying you are, little brother, I'm just saying it's a possibility, all right? So I'll do this for you, and then things should be a little easier, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. Now get out, I need to work."

"Right. Thanks."

Sasuke stood up and left his brother alone, closing the door quietly behind him. Itachi sighed, shaking his head before turning back to his paper.

* * *

Naruto stared at the door in front of him as if it would bite him. His hand was closed in a fist at his side, ready to knock on it, but every time he tried, it was like the door grinned at him, and waited for him to make that foolish mistake so it could bite his whole hand off. 

He already knew the doorbell would send him into a black hole.

God, he didn't want to do this. He didn't want to torture himself even more by having Sasuke admit it. Admit that he was disgusted. That he hated him. God, Naruto didn't want to hear it, but he had to. He needed to know that it was because of what had happened on the field that Sasuke was ignoring him. He was going insane.

It had only been one day, but it was still a knife to Naruto's heart. And his words that morning—Naruto hadn't known he was taking up his space. He would've apologized if he had, but he'd been clueless. Fuck, this wasn't fair! He worked so hard to get back to the real world only for his actions to drive Sasuke away.

Maybe his dream was trying to tell him something. Maybe it was trying to warn him that Sasuke would hurt him and abandon him.

Well, it seemed that way right now.

"Naruto?"

The blond jumped so high, he could've sworn his head hit the roof of the porch. He whipped around to find Mikoto walking towards him, her arms full of groceries. His eyes flickered to the car in the driveway. How had he missed all that noise?

"Sweetie, is no one answering the door?" she asked as she reached his side.

"Uh, no. They must be listening to music." He laughed nervously as Mikoto opened the door.

"Silly boys and their toys, right? You should know, since you're one, too." She smiled, walking in and motioning for him to follow with a slight nod of her head.

He swallowed hard as he did so, seeing the knowing look the door gave him as he walked in. _Next time, _it was saying to him. _I'll bite it off next time._

_If there __**is**__ a next time,_ Naruto thought with a wince as he closed the door behind him. He stared at the stairs, a sense of vertigo seizing him and he swallowed hard.

"Go on up, sweetie, Sasuke should be in his room."

Naruto turned to look back at Mikoto, but she'd already disappeared into the kitchen. He turned back to the stairs. Fuck, why was this so _hard_?!

_Who am I kidding? Of __**course**__ this is hard! How easy can it be to hear you're hated by someone you regarded as your best friend?_

Naruto didn't think he could take hearing it twice. Once in his dreamworld was enough. He just hoped that when _this_ Sasuke said it, it wasn't accompanied by an attempted murder. Dreamworld Sasuke liked doing that, for some reason.

"Just do it, Naruto." The blond whispered to himself, steeling himself before slowly climbing the stair. He got to the top and crossed his arms instinctively over his chest, slouching slightly as if his body was already admitting defeat while his mind was still hoping for the best. He shuffled his way slowly down the corridor towards Sasuke's room and stopped in front of it.

If the front door wanted to bite off his hand, this one flat-out wanted to devour him. He swallowed hard as he stared at it, watching as it sized him up, waiting to see what his first move would be.

_Oh, for fuck's sake, it's a __**door**__! It's not sizing you up! It's not even __**looking**__ at you because doors don't have __**eyes**__! Fucking knock!_

Taking a deep breath—and still not entirely convinced the door wasn't out to get him—Naruto uncrossed his arms and knocked on the door.

_Oh, nobody's home, guess I should leave._ He turned and started rushing back down the corridor when the door opened. He froze, his back still to it, waiting to see if Sasuke would speak first. When he didn't, the blond swallowed hard, and turned around.

Sasuke was staring at him. Just staring. He didn't say anything, or even move. And he had the most unreadable expression dominating his features. Naruto didn't even know what to say, the look on the raven's face shocking him into silence. It looked so much like dreamworld Sasuke's face. Had they traded places or something?!

"Well? What do you want?" Sasuke finally said after a long time of just staring on both their parts.

Naruto pressed his lips together, crossing his arms and slouching again as he looked at the ground. He wished he'd rehearsed this first, but figured even if he had, seeing Sasuke would've just made him forget it all, anyway.

"I was concerned about you." He finally said. "You were acting weird at school. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine."

Short. Clipped. To the point.

Naruto winced.

"Good. I'm glad."

"Was that all?"

The blond started to nod, but it _wasn't_ all, and they both knew it. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a few seconds before opening them again, steeling himself.

"Sasuke, I need to know the truth." He looked up at his friend. Or, the person he _hoped_ was still his friend. "I have to know if what happened before my coma destroyed what we had."

The raven let out a sigh that sounded more annoyed than anything, averting his gaze.

"Look, I'm going through a bit of a rough time right now, and I really need to spend some time on my own to figure things out. We're still friends, but I just want to be alone for a while. So just relax, go home, and you'll be the first to know when I've got things sorted out. Bye." He closed his door.

As Naruto turned and walked down the stairs, he wasn't sure if he should be worried, or relieved.

* * *

(1) Seriously. 


	16. Of Decisions

**Disclaimer: -growling in annoyance while sitting in jail, awaiting trial- Next time, K. Masashi... next time...**

**AN: You know you need to stop writing porn in class when the girl next to you looks at your page to see your notes because she missed something, and blurts out "Oh my God! Are you writing PORN?!" -wince- YES! YES I _WAS_ WRITING PORN, THANK YOU FOR TELLING THE WHOLE CLASS AND THE PROF, WHO WILL NOW NEVER LOOK AT ME THE SAME WAY AGAIN! -crouches in the corner and mutters angrily under breath- Stupid, stupid girl, grr. Next time, pay more attention, fuck. (PS: No porn in this chapter, I was writing porn for something else. Yes, it was gay porn, obviously, I don't write het, it scares me.)**

* * *

Gaara stared at Naruto's group from the doorway that led outside, his tray in-hand. He still felt awkward going to sit with them, so it always took him a while to actually work up the courage to get over there. Especially now, with Naruto so depressed. He didn't want to upset him even _more_. Not that he knew how, but because he was such an emo, royal fuck-up, it would make sense that he would ruin the only good thing he had. 

_Actually, that's a lie,_ Gaara's eyes slowly shifted to lock on the Uchiha, who was occupying Gaara's old spot before he started sitting with Naruto's group. He was eating by himself, reading a book. He had to wonder why someone like Sasuke would _ever_ want to give up what he had with Naruto. The blond was so... so... well, _nice_. He wasn't one of those people you could just throw away when you got bored of them, Naruto was _genuinely_ nice, and would stop at nothing to keep people happy.

So to see the blond so miserable, and then see the cause, it made Gaara mad. _Really_ mad. So, he decided to forfeit sitting with Naruto today. He would sit with someone else, and maybe figure out what the hell was going on.

He headed for the raven, ignoring Kiba's calls for him to come sit with them. He knew Naruto, at least, would understand what he was doing—even if that damn idiot Kiba didn't.

The redhead put his tray down on the ground and sat down, Sasuke slowly looking up from his book, pausing mid-chew to stare at Gaara. He ignored the Uchiha, grabbing his fork and stabbing it into his pasta. He only stabbed the poor noodles to stop himself from stabbing Sasuke. He didn't think Naruto would appreciate that.

He knew _Sasuke_ wouldn't appreciate it, but who cared about Sasuke, anyway?

"You're upsetting him." Gaara said simply before taking a bite of his food.

"Who?"

"You _know_ who." the redhead growled, narrowing his eyes dangerously. Sasuke sighed, raking his hand through his hair in agitation.

"Look, you don't even know the situation."

"I don't need to. You're upsetting him. That's enough for me."

"I'm going through a tough time right now." Sasuke said defensively, adding in a glare to force Gaara to look away from him. He didn't. Sasuke gave up, looking away instead.

"You helped Naruto through his tough time, don't you think it's only fair he be allowed to help you through yours?"

"He's part of the tough time." Sasuke grumbled, jabbing at his food with his knife in irritation.

"Because you love him and won't admit it?"

The knife fell from his grasp.

"Does _everyone _think I'm gay?!" Sasuke threw his hands in the air. "Do I have a flashing sign or something?!"

"I was under the impression you knew." Gaara stated simply, taking another bite of his food.

"I'm not gay." Sasuke sulked, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on them as he wrapped his arms around his legs.

"Do you honestly believe that? You could ask anyone, and I guarantee they'll all think the same thing. You and Naruto have always had a special kind of relationship. You're not _straight_, I can tell you that much."

"Everyone's fucking crazy." Sasuke growled, gathering his things and shoving his book into his bag. "I'm _not_ gay, and even if I was, I wouldn't have a problem admitting it." He grabbed his tray, his bag over his shoulder, and stood, heading away from Gaara.

"You already know that you can have him, so what are you so afraid of?" Gaara yelled after him.

Sasuke ignored him and kept on walking.

* * *

"What is Gaara doing? Why's he headed towards pricky-mcprickerson?" Kiba mumbled as he stood up to go and get the redhead, who was completely ignoring him and had sat down beside Sasuke. Neji grabbed the brunette's arm, sometimes wondering how Kiba was managing to graduate. 

"Leave him be."

"Why?"

"So fucking troublesome." Shikamaru sighed, resting his head against one hand as he poked at the poisonous ooze that was trying to pass itself off as meatloaf.

"Who, Gaara?"

"No, this meatloaf." Shikamaru frowned slightly. "I know it's poisonous, but it keeps trying to convince me to eat it."

"You're a freak." Ino patted the boy's head with a kind smile. "But we still love you."

"Goody." Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

Ino giggled before turning to Naruto. The blond was just staring at his food; or rather, looking _through_ it. She pursed her lips, shaking her head. _Damn you, Sasuke,_ she thought angrily before leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder.

He snapped out of his daze and turned to her, smiling back as she gave him her best smile. "Hey, love. Not hungry?"

"Are you kidding? I'm starving!" He grinned. "I just don't trust the cafeteria food. I swear, it's made by aliens and they use it to figure out the best candidates for anal probes."

"Let them take you, I'm not much of an anal prober." Kiba insisted as he ate away at his own food.

"Anal prober. My, do you ever have a way with words, Kiba." Ino rolled her eyes, then turned back to Naruto. "Hey, Naruto, I was thinking—"

"Don't strain yourself." Kiba snickered.

"Look who's talking." Neji replied with a smile, the brunette giving him a horrified look.

"Et tu, Neji?!"

"Go on, Ino, I'm listening." Naruto laughed slightly.

"You know your dreamworld? I was thinking you should write a book about it or something." She smiled. "Or like, draw a comic."

"I think my mum suggested that before." Naruto said thoughtfully.

"Well, I think it would be really cool, and it would probably sell really well."

Naruto laughed, shaking his head. "Thanks, Ino, but nobody would want to read a story about some loudmouth kid who wants to be Hokage." (1)

"Aw, spoilsport." She pouted, shoving him slightly. "I really think it would do well. It's an interesting concept, and your idea is so unique."

"Thanks, but I thi—"

"You already know that you can have him, so what are you so afraid of?"

Everyone in the group turned to see Gaara yelling this at Sasuke's retreating back, the raven shaking his head before slamming into the school. Gaara just glared after him for a few seconds before grabbing his tray and heading over to Naruto and his friends. He plopped down right in between Ino and Naruto and finished off his plate before looking at Naruto's tray.

"You gonna finish that?"

"Uh, no."

It was gone from his tray before he'd even finished his reply, Gaara devouring it as if he hadn't just eaten an entire meal. Naruto glanced at Neji, then Shikamaru, the Nara just shrugging as he continued to poke his own food.

As Naruto turned to talk to Ino again about her idea, he was stunned to see her gone. He looked around himself to try and find her, but she was nowhere to be seen. He figured she just went to the bathroom or something.

* * *

"Hey, Uchiha!" 

"My _God_, is Naruto the _only_ one who understands the meaning of the word _space_?!" Sasuke rounded on Ino angrily, annoyed that he couldn't spend even one second without someone bothering him about his thing with Naruto. He was _trying _to figure things out, and bothering him every two seconds: _not helping_!

"Relax, duck-butt." Ino held both hands up. "I just thought I'd offer you a listening ear if you ever need to talk about things with an outside party."

Sasuke nodded a thanks, watching Ino lower her hands and shove them in her pockets. She scanned him with her eyes, Sasuke remaining where he was, waiting to see if she had anything else to say.

"You know, you're not any better at hiding your emotions than Naruto is. You're both upset about this, you're just being stubborn and not letting us help. Just because you need to think doesn't mean you have to cut off all your ties with Naruto, you know."

"How am I supposed to figure things out if he's always around me?" Sasuke grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"It should be fairly simple. Either you love him, or you don't." Ino insisted with a shrug. "There is no 'maybe' or 'sorta' in this kind of situation. It's either 'yes' or 'no'." She leaned back against one of the lockers, her hands still in her pockets. "You're trying to solve this like some kind of chemistry experiment where there are variables and numerous outcomes. It's not like Chem, it's more like sports. Like soccer, for example. There's no 'it kind of went into the goal'. It either went in, or it didn't. It should be fairly straightforward."

"This coming from the girl who won't admit she's dating Shikamaru?" Sasuke sneered.

"Oh my sweet Jesus, _fine_!" Ino threw her hands in the air, turning to face him again. "I'll tell you! I'm going out with _Sai_!" (2)

Sasuke had to admit, he'd been expecting a lot of things to come out of Ino's mouth, but _that_ had _not_ been one of them.

"What?"

"I'm going out with Sai! I've been dating him for about three months. We never told anyone because we just wanted to make sure it would work out, and now that it's been so long, we don't know how to admit it without people getting mad at us for keeping it a secret. Shikamaru is crushing on Temari, he and I are _strictly_ friends, just like we've been saying all along. We know each other way too well for us to be anything more. It'd be like dating my brother." She shuddered. "But you, and Naruto—you guys could really _be_ something, Sasuke. You've known each other so long, and you stood by him through everything, and yet you still manage to stand there and flat out tell me that you have no feelings whatsoever for him." she sighed, shaking her head. "There's nothing wrong with being gay, you know. Naruto is getting by just fine. Fuck, if _Genma_ is still alive, I don't know why you're so worried."

"I'm not worried, I just..." Sasuke trailed off, looking at the ground.

"Just answer this for me, Sasuke." He looked up at her. "Do you love him, or not?"

"Honestly?"

"Yes."

The raven pressed his lips together, turning his back on her and walking away. "I don't know."

* * *

Sasuke groaned as he fell backwards on his bed, staring up at his ceiling, mentally and physically exhausted. He'd been cornered by every single one of his friends today, except for Naruto. They all asked him the same thing, but he didn't _know_! He still couldn't figure it out! Just because he cared about Naruto and missed having him around, even though they'd only been apart for three days, that didn't mean he was hot for him. 

And besides, was it even _possible_ to be gay for only one person? That sort of stretched being bi-sexual to the max, didn't it?

He grabbed his pillow and covered his face with it, screaming in frustration before throwing it across the room. He almost had a heart attack as he noticed Itachi standing in his open doorway, looking down at the pillow that had hit the ground near where he stood.

"If you have an issue with the pillow, Sasuke, you should talk it out before getting violent with it."

"I tried, it just got cocky." Sasuke insisted, sitting up. "What's up?"

"Here." Itachi dropped a sheet of paper onto Sasuke's desk. "I did some scenarios for you. Answer them and get back to me, and I'll let you know the outcome." _Though it'd be better if you realized it yourself,_ Itachi thought as he closed the door.

Sasuke sighed, getting to his feet and walking up to his desk, sitting down in his chair and grabbing a pen, looking over the sheet briefly before reading the first scenario, tapping his pen against his desk.

_Naruto invites you to a movie about a kid who fell into a coma and died. How do you feel about that?_

"Hm." Sasuke brought his pen to the paper, writing out his response without thinking about it too much. He wanted them to be honest and devoid of any doubts, so he wrote down the first thing that popped into his head without dwelling on it too much.

_You're shopping with Sai when you suddenly spot Naruto. As you're about to call out to him, you see him wave to someone else and a girl runs up to him and they kiss. How do you feel?_

Sasuke's fist clenched around the pen, his teeth grinding, and he quickly wrote down his answer, again, not dwelling on how he was feeling at that current moment in time.

_Naruto comes over and is really upset because he and his parents had a fight. He's crying, and can't get to sleep after you've told him he can spend the night. What do you do?_

The thought of a crying Naruto tugged at his heartstrings and he quickly wrote down his answer, realizing once he was finished that he hoped Itachi would be able to read them. His handwriting was atrocious at the moment since he was writing so fast to ensure he got all of his thoughts out quickly. He shrugged; it wasn't a big deal.

_You're alone with Naruto after you've both had a few drinks and he suddenly leans over and kisses you. You know he's drunk, so he's not in control. What do you do?_

Sasuke chuckled slightly at the thought of a drunk Naruto, since he'd never had the chance to see him totally wasted. That was something he was going to have to change, since it would probably be insanely funny. _Not to mention it'll be easier to take advantage of him,_ he thought with a smirk as he answered the question. What he'd just thought didn't completely register in his mind.

_Naruto dies. How do you feel?_

Sasuke was so shocked by that last question that it took him a few seconds to realize how he was feeling. Rage for having Naruto stolen from him. Agony for never being able to see him again. Emptiness, sadness, hatred... He couldn't entirely describe _how_ he would feel if Naruto died.

So, before he could think about it any more, he quickly wrote down his answer before leaning back in his chair and dropping his pen, allowing his eyes to scan the page. They went unfocussed, so he sighed, leaning forward again and rubbing his eyes before picking up the paper and re-reading the questions and his answers.

His eyebrows slowly rose as he read on until finally, they'd almost disappeared into his hairline by the end of the page. He understood how he felt, now.

Everyone was crazy.

* * *

Neji knocked at Naruto's bedroom door before letting himself in, finding the blond lying on his bed in the dark. He shook his head, closing the door behind him and turning on the light. 

"Turn it off." Naruto moaned, rolling onto his side and pulling his blankets up so they covered his face.

"Why?"

"Because it's harder to face reality when you can actually see it."

Neji laughed slightly, but obliged, turning the light off before cautiously making his way to Naruto's chair and sitting down.

"Your mother is concerned, Naruto. As am I."

"I'm fine, I'm just a little depressed because Sasuke is being a selfish bastard." he muttered, then threw the blankets off his head. "Egotistical, self-centred prick! Gah, I wanna bite his nose off, or kick him in the shins, or _something_."

"May I suggest the balls? Much more effective."

"Yes! Thank you! The balls! I should bite him _in_ the balls!" He threw the covers over his head again. "Stupid balls."

Neji laughed, knowing it was inappropriate, but Naruto was just too funny. "Naruto, be reasonable. You'll only torture yourself. I highly recommend kicking him in the balls. Or swinging a baseball bat into his groin, since that can more easily be ruled as an accident."

The blanket was off again, Naruto wagging one finger at him. "I like you, Neji. Give me more ideas!" The blanket was back.

"Naruto, Sasuke is just confused." Neji sighed. "Everyone knows that he's gay, except for him. I promise you, once he can just figure it out for himself, he'll stop being such a prick, and he'll come around. In the meantime, there isn't much more that we're able to do. Just try and give him space, and wait it out. I know it's painful, but you're a strong person, you'll be fine."

"If I _last_ long enough for princess Ice Bitch to make up his mind." Naruto grumbled.

Neji sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I didn't want to tell you this, but I feel I must. Sai and I have been speaking, and we both think that this is dangerous."

The blanket came off, Naruto cocking an eyebrow. Neji could barely see it in the dark. "What is?"

"Due to your fragile state of mind since you're still recovering from your coma, we fear that another blow to the head, and you'll leave us for good. Without Sasuke around to anchor you, we're afraid we're going to lose you."

"Neji, you and Sai are cute. Crazy, but cute." Naruto smiled. "I'm not going back into my dreamworld, and even if I do, I know how to get back out, now." He frowned. "I think. Well, it worked the last two times, anyway."

"Still. Don't overdo it, and please be careful. We care about you, and even though Sasuke isn't here for you right now, he'll come around, and he'll be here for you again, just as he always was."

"Thanks, Neji, but I'm fine." Naruto smiled.

"Good." He stood. "I best be on my way. Hinata is probably wondering about my whereabouts." He nodded slightly to Naruto before leaving his room.

The blond sighed, rolling onto his back once more and staring up at his ceiling.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He grabbed his pillow and covered his face with it, as if to suffocate himself.

"Kill me." He whined into the pillow.

_I hate my life._

* * *

(1) -cough cough- 

(2) Crackiest pairing EVER XD


	17. Of Reveals

**AN: Ugh, is school OVER yet?! I can't take this whole "school" thing anymore! Someone write my essays for me? Any volunteers? Anyone? Please?**

**Also, yes, I write porn in class! Why do people find this so hard to believe? Don't you ever get bored in class? I do, all the time! I write in class, how do you think I've had the time to update Naruto at ALL? lol. I do homework outside class, and I write Naruto IN class, it's the only way to go to school! (Also, a lot of people seemed to think I was TYPING this porn... no, no, no! I am not that silly! I was writing it out on paper and covering most of it with my arm... and I have HORRID handwriting, so HOW this girl knew what the fuck I was writing, I have no idea... Sometimes I can't even read my OWN handwriting, so when others can, it weirds me out Oo)**

**Disclaimer: School is eating my braaiiiiiiiiin... K. Masashi owns theeeeeeeeeeeem... Even though I continuously try to steal all his plushieeeeeeeees...**

**animemushroom: I am unable to reply to your PM as you have disabled private messaging. Please enable it and let me know so I can reply to your questions.**

* * *

Sasuke faked death on Monday so that he wouldn't have to go to school. His mother knew he was completely fine, but Itachi convinced her to just let him stay home, saying there were some things he needed to figure out. Mikoto knew her sons would talk to her when they were ready. 

And even if they didn't, they always told Fugaku what was up, and unbeknownst to them, their father had a big mouth. She always found out information within ten minutes of Fugaku finding it out.

The raven spent all day Monday lying on his bed, staring at his ceiling as he thought of the best way to break the news to Naruto, and to his friends. He wasn't sure how they were going to take it. And he was worried about his relationship with Naruto because of his attitude of late.

Either way, he wasn't losing Naruto. The blond was way too important to him for anything to break them apart. Fuck, if they'd survived _Sakura_, they could survive anything.

Sasuke sighed and got to his feet, his stomach growling. He could hear his mother making dinner downstairs, but he didn't leave his room to greet her yet. He instead picked up the sheet of paper sitting on his desk, re-reading it for what felt like the millionth time. As if a piece of paper with some scenarios could answer all his questions.

He dropped the paper again and headed for his door, exiting his room and walking down the stairs, stretching as he entered the kitchen. "Hey, mum."

"Hey, my little terror. How are you feeling?"

"Hungry." He grinned, opening the fridge and looking at what he could eat. He felt something hit the back of his head and turned, staring at his mother, appalled.

"Did you just throw a spatula at me?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Mikoto bent down to pick up what she'd thrown, tossing it into the sink. "It was a wooden spoon. I still need the spatula."

"Abuse! Abuse of your youngest son who is ill with fever and dying." He rested the back of one hand against his forehead and used the fridge door for support as he pretended to faint.

"If you're going to die, try and do it without breaking the fridge, will you?" she teased before laughing. Sasuke pouted, closing the door and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"You don't love me."

"Of course I do. I just value the usefulness of the fridge more."

"Ah!" Sasuke clutched his chest. "That hurt! Oh, the pain! Upstaged by a kitchen appliance!"

"For someone who was dying this morning, you seem to be pretty healthy." Sasuke turned to the doorway and smiled.

"Hey, dad. Is Itachi home?"

"Mm hm." he said as he kissed Mikoto's cheek. "I picked him up, he should be in his room."

"Thanks. I need to talk to him."

"Dinner's almost ready." Mikoto insisted as the raven ran away.

"It won't take long!" he insisted back as he jogged up the stairs and headed for Itachi's room, knocking on the open door. The older boy turned, motioning for Sasuke to come in as he emptied out his bag.

"What's up, little brother?"

"I think I know how I'm going to break the news to Naruto." Sasuke sat down on his brother's bed. "I just wanted to talk to you about it first."

"Sure." Itachi leaned back in his chair. "Fire away."

* * *

"Do you think he's okay?" Naruto asked Kiba, who was sitting on one side of him. "What if he's _really_ sick?" he demanded, turning to Ino, who was seated on his other side. "Maybe he won't get mad if I visit him if he's _actually_ sick, you know?" 

"Naruto, you need to calm down." Ino sighed, checking her watch. Kiba had come into her homeroom and _begged_ her to help calm Naruto down, so there she was, with only a few more minutes to spare for the blond nutcase beside her.

"No, I mean, he was there for me the entire time I was in my coma, so even if he wants space, if he's sick, it's understandable that I want to visit him, right? I mean, it's normal I want to make sure he's okay."

"Sasuke isn't going to die if he doesn't see you for _one_ day." Kiba yawned widely, still somewhat asleep. Now that Ino was here to take care of Naruto, the brunette was slowly falling asleep again.

"I think I'm gonna go see him after school." Naruto decided with a nod. "It's the least I can do."

"I'm _telling_ you, Naruto! Uchiha is _fine_! He's finer than fine! He's so fine, he makes fine look un-fine."

"You _do_ realize you sound _really_ gay, right?" Ino asked, cocking an eyebrow at Kiba.

"Not _that_ kind of fine!" Kiba rolled his eyes. "You're just a closet yaoi-lover."

"I am not a closet yaoi-lover!" Ino insisted. "I'm an open yaoi-lover. Why would I bother hiding it, stupid?" She leaned over behind Naruto and flicked Kiba in the ear. He yelped, jumping slightly, and then rubbed at it with a glare in Ino's direction.

The door opened, all of them expecting to see Kakashi, Ino checking her watch, but it was Sasuke who walked in instead. His eyes locked on Naruto immediately, and instantly, the blond felt dread creeping up his spine. He couldn't clearly read the expression on Sasuke's face, but he didn't think it was good.

"We need to talk." Sasuke said as he started for the blond.

"Um, okay, let's go outside." Naruto stood, not wanting to have this conversation in front of the whole class—especially _Sakura_. He could practically _feel_ her smirking at him, knowing she'd won and Naruto had lost both Sasuke _and_ Sakura. Fuck, that would just suck.

"No, I want to discuss this as soon as possible." Sasuke stopped in front of Naruto.

The blond looked away, pressing his lips together and crossing his arms, steeling himself for it. He just wanted to be friends with Sasuke, and if the raven couldn't handle that—fuck, he would just _die_! He didn't leave a dreamworld where he could control what happened between him and Sasuke for a real world where Sasuke ditched him. That just wasn't fucking fair!

"Okay, so what's the deal?" Naruto whispered.

"The deal is—I'm gay."

The blond's head snapped up, stunned, and Sasuke clumsily moved forward, pressing his lips against Naruto's. The kiss was a bit awkward, since the raven had never kissed anyone before in his life, but he tried his best. He didn't want Naruto to take it back now simply because he couldn't kiss.

He pushed his tongue into Naruto's mouth as he brought one hand up to cup Naruto's face, the other holding his hip loosely. This really wasn't as bad as he'd imagined, and he knew for sure, now, that he was gay for Naruto.

In the background, both boys could hear Ino screaming in delight and doing catcalls while Kiba moaned about weird girls and their psychotic fetishes. Honestly, _what_ was so hot about two guys kissing? They were _just_ kissing. Everyone did it all the time.

"Girls are weird." Kiba muttered, burying his face in his arms. "And it's time for you to head back to homeroom."

"Whoo! Fuck homeroom! I am _all_ for _this_!" she exclaimed as she grabbed her phone and started taking pictures with it, moving around the room to get better angles. "Damn! That's some fucking _hot_ kissage right there!" she exclaimed again, getting back to where Kiba was and grabbing his hair with one hand, pulling his head up and pushing the phone in his face. "Isn't that sexy?"

"Very nice."

Naruto didn't hear any of this. His brain was still in shock at what he'd heard. Sasuke was _gay_. He'd admitted it! And now they were kissing! It took him almost five seconds to actually reciprocate the kiss, he was so stunned. He was happy, of _course_ he was happy, but he was stunned like nobody's business. _Sasuke_ was _kissing_ him!

He finally managed to close his eyes and run his hands through Sasuke's hair, pulling him closer. A part of him was scared he was going to get a fist through his chest like in his dreamworld, but he knew that wouldn't happen. This was _Sasuke_. _His_ Sasuke. The _real_ Sasuke. And nothing could ever beat the real thing.

As for Sasuke, well, he'd been right. Everyone _was_ crazy.

Crazy for knowing the truth before him.

* * *

Sai rested his cheek against his fist as he took notes, his professor droning on and on about something or another—Sai had stopped paying attention. He'd gotten to the point where the information went in one ear, hit the part of his brain needed for writing, and then went out the other. So, he was _writing_ everything down, but he wasn't actually _registering_ any of it. 

Not that it mattered, he still had loads of time before he'd need to look at these notes again. Finals weren't for another month, and who looked at their notes until finals, anyway?

_Overachievers, I guess,_ he thought as he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He put his pen down, not really caring if he missed anything important, and pulled it out of his pocket, flipping it open. He clicked on one of the buttons, seeing he had a new message. He opened his folder, and saw it was from Ino, which sort of confused him because he couldn't imagine why the blonde girl was sending him a message so early in the morning.

His throat clenched in fear as he recalled what he and Neji had been discussing, hoping to God Naruto hadn't fallen into another coma. He hurriedly opened the message, and stared at what appeared to be a picture. It took him a few seconds to identify what was happening.

Sasuke.

Naruto.

Lips.

Tongues.

Kissing.

Sasuke and Naruto had their lips pressed together, their tongues tangled, kissing deeply.

"Yes! Finally!" he screamed out loud, thrusting his fists in the air.

The room went dead silent, the professor's words frozen in his throat as he stared up at Sai. The raven scanned the room slowly, his arms still in the air, and a stupid smile still on his face. _Well... __**this**__ is awkward..._

"I'm just really, really glad that—we've finally learned about... this." He motioned the slideshow on the screen in front of him, having _no_ idea what he was looking at since he hadn't been paying attention since his phone buzzed.

_Ino is __**dead**_

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke walked side by side in silence. Both had decided to walk home so they would be able to talk about what Sasuke had finally figured out. They hadn't really had the time to talk at school, since everyone and their mother was saying 'I told you so' to Sasuke, while others—mostly Ino—kept asking them to kiss. 

Not that either minded kissing, it was just a little weird to be _asked_ to do it in front of so many people. Girls were _so_ weird. (1)

"So what made you finally decide how you felt?" Naruto figured he should start the conversation or they'd _never_ get it out.

"Itachi helped me out." Sasuke shrugged. "I was really confused, because I knew I didn't like you like _that_, but I also didn't know that I didn't like you like _that_." He grinned, turning to Naruto.

"I guess it makes sense. So Itachi helped you out, then?"

"Yeah." Sasuke ran one hand through his hair. "I spent all of yesterday thinking about how our friendship has evolved since we met. Now that I know I'm gay, a lot of things make more sense. Like my rivalry with Sakura, and the fact that I went to see you every day. I guess some part of me always knew how I felt about you, I was just too afraid to admit it." He looked at Naruto. "Weren't you afraid?"

"Fucking terrified." He chuckled. "It wasn't easy admitting it, especially since I _technically_ had to do it twice." He turned to Sasuke with a smile. "I figured out my sexual orientation in my dreamworld—back when I still _thought_ it was real."

"Oh—well _that's_ not fair." Sasuke stuck his tongue out childishly. "You _technically_ had more time to think about it than I did." the raven teased, stressing the same word as Naruto.

The blond laughed. "It's true. But yeah, when I came out _here_, it was even harder, mostly because I knew this place was real and there were so many people I cared about so much—and then when I told my mother..."

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, concerned.

"She, um—she already knew." He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "She said it was obvious that you and I were gay."

"Even your _mum_?! Shit, how did everyone know I was gay but me?!" Sasuke threw his hands in the air. Naruto laughed.

"Well, I guess it makes life easier, right? I mean, do your parents know?"

"Yeah, I told them at dinner last night."

"What'd they say?"

Sasuke laughed, turning to Naruto. "Pretty much the same thing your mum did."

"Wow, adults are scary." He leaned closer to Sasuke to whisper. "They know things."

"No!" Sasuke pretended to sound shocked. Naruto hit him and the raven laughed.

"I'm glad we worked this out." The blond smiled, walking up his driveway and stopping on his porch, Sasuke stopping beside him.

"Me, too. But like I said, even if I _wasn't_ gay, I wouldn't have traded what I had with you for the world, Naruto."

"Thanks." He smiled.

Sasuke smiled back before leaning forward and pressing his lips lightly against Naruto's. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Okay." Naruto whispered as Sasuke pulled away. "Um, before you go—are we, like... um..."

"Dating?" Sasuke smirked. Naruto blushed, crossing his arms and looking away, but he nodded. "Of course we are," what was that word again? "Dobe."

"Teme!" Naruto went to hit him, but Sasuke jumped off the porch, running down the driveway laughing as he waved over his shoulder.

"See you tomorrow, dobe!"

"You suck!" Naruto yelled after him before huffing and pulling out his key, unlocking his door.

It wasn't until he got inside and was in the midst of removing his shoes that his head snapped up and something occurred to him. In heterosexual relationships, the man _always_ walked the woman to the door, and in sex, women always bottomed...

So since _Sasuke_ had walked _Naruto_ to the door, and Naruto hadn't _fought_ it... that meant that in _their_ relationship, where either _one_ could be the bottom... Naruto had essentially given up his rights as a top as soon as Sasuke disappeared down the driveway.

"Motherfucker! _He did that on purpose!_"

* * *

(1) Kukukuku.

* * *

**AN: One more chapter. ****And sorry, guys. I know y'all wanted jealousy, but since my heart is currently being pounded into the ground by someone, I thought it would be best not to go down that path, since I don't need to be writing Sasuke the way I'm currently feeling. Ie, very hurt, and bitter, and jealous. -le gasp- I know! Sarge is human and not just some random internet bot!**


	18. Of Epilogues

**AN: Man, this was a journey and a half... next time I want an adventure, someone please stop me...**

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi said I could have them if they wanted to be mine, and then the bastard cheated! He showed everyone my fics and now Naruto and Sasuke are scared of me, Kiba is insulted, and Genma is a hornier prick than usual! NO FAIR!**

**Also, I wish when people gave me constructive criticism, they would leave a way to get back to them so I could say thank you. Most people who do seem to think I'm evil and will reply with "-hiss- HOW DARE YOU FLAME ME! I WILL KILL YOU AND HAVE MY ARMY OF FRIENDS ATTACK YOU ENDLESSLY!" ...yeah, no, I'm not like that. If you FLAME me, I ignore you, I don't even bother to reply. If you give me constructive criticism, I generally like saying thank you. So, if you're reading this, you know who you are, and thank you for your review. Hopefully one of the next ideas I have will be a little different. (I already have one in mind that I can work with on that -smile-)**

* * *

**Eight Months Later.**

"Ah, sweet, sweet sleep." Naruto moaned as he fell face-first onto his new bed. "How I love thee, oh bed. Love of my life."

"Hey, I thought _I_ was the love of your life." Sasuke pretended to glare at Naruto as he dropped his bag and closed their door.

"You are—just not right now." Naruto curled up onto his side, sighing deeply. "Dude, when we signed up for this whole university thing, someone should've warned us it would _suck_!"

"It doesn't suck, dobe, you're just being stupid." Sasuke fell backwards onto his own bed, staring up at the ceiling.

The two of them had applied to the same university, and unsurprisingly, they'd both gotten in. Tsunade has pulled a few strings and managed to get the two boys a room together in the dorms. They technically could've lived at home, since the university was only about half an hour away, but it was easier to meet people when living in the dorms, so they'd decided on that.

Besides, it was easier to have _sex_ without the risk of anyone walking in. There had been at least five times with Itachi, and they _swore _he did it on purpose! And then Naruto's mother, and Sasuke's father, and—well, Ino, but they knew she probably installed a camera or something.

They'd moved in two days ago, and had just had their first day of the year, even though their room was barely unpacked. The only things they'd gotten out when they arrived was their bedding, and some random clothes. Oh, and they'd pushed the two beds together, of course.

"Can we go home?"

"We _are_ home."

Naruto whined, snuggling more into his blankets and wishing he could sleep, but his stomach was strongly against that. _Fuck_ was he hungry. But, the Uchiha wasn't, so he had to _wait_. He sighed, rolling over to face Sasuke. The raven turned his head to look at him, cocking an eyebrow.

"We should unpack." Naruto said, trying to take his mind off his stomach.

"Or, we could have some fun." Sasuke grinned.

"You know, for someone who kept denying they were gay, you _always_ want to have sex with me." Naruto glared.

"That's getting old. You say that line almost _every time_ I want to have sex."

"Well, it's true." Naruto sniffed, sitting up and getting off the bed. "Come on, I'll help you unpack first, then we can eat, and then we can unpack my stuff. Deal?"

"_Fine_." Sasuke sighed, getting off the bed and opening a random box.

Naruto laughed slightly, shaking his head as he opened another box, pulling out a bunch of Sasuke's clothes and putting them away in one of the drawers. As he emptied the box, he noticed the bottom was full of papers. He would have to sort those. When had Sasuke gotten so damn _messy_?

With a sigh, he bent down and started organizing the papers, seeing some old school notes and a few random papers. His eyes noticed his name on one of the sheets and he paused so he could read it. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed the question that was asked, and an answer written by Sasuke. He glanced behind him to see if the raven was paying attention. He wasn't. Naruto turned back to the paper, reading it.

_- Naruto invites you to a movie about a kid who fell into a coma and died. How do you feel about that? – __**Uncomfortable, because Naruto will be seeing reactions that all his loved ones had towards him while he was gone, which will upset him, and I don't want him to be upset. I also don't know how the movie will affect me, and I'm worried that I'll break down or something when the kid dies, because that could've been Naruto. **_

- _You're shopping with Sai when you suddenly spot Naruto. As you're about to call out to him, you see him wave to someone else and a girl runs up to him and they kiss. How do you feel? – __**Betrayed, because if he had the nerve to go out and find himself another fucking Sakura, the least he could've done was fucking tell me! I'm always there for him, I have the right to know when he's going to be replacing me with some other stupid bitch that's going to hog all of his time! He should just stay single!**_

- _Naruto comes over and is really upset because he and his parents had a fight. He's crying, and can't get to sleep after you've told him he can spend the night. What do you do? – __**I'd probably try and console him. I'd hug him and rub his back, or ask him if he just wants to talk about it. If he just wants to sleep and can't, I'd just hold him until he manages to, telling him everything will be okay, because he's Naruto and everything always works out for him—even if I have to kill someone for that to happen.**_

- _You're alone with Naruto after you've both had a few drinks and he suddenly leans over and kisses you. You know he's drunk, so he's not in control. What do you do? – __**I'd probably let him, and then deny the entire thing in the morning if he remembered the incident.**_

- _Naruto dies. How do you feel? – __**Like I'm dead, too.**_

The blond smiled slightly as he read the last sentence. Sasuke was adorable. He supposed this was what Itachi had told him about. The sheet that decided it for him. Sasuke was so dense if it took a survey to make him figure out that he was gay.

Naruto laughed loudly at that, causing Sasuke to turn around. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Naruto threw the paper back into the box.

Sasuke glared and stood up, coming towards him. Naruto jumped to his feet, pushing him back.

"What?"

"Nothing!" Naruto insisted with a laugh.

"You're lying, I can tell." Sasuke tried to push past Naruto, but the blond shoved him hard and the two of them landed on the bed, Naruto lying on top of Sasuke.

"Doesn't this seem so much better than why I was laughing?" Naruto grinned.

"Mm. I think I can learn to forgive you." Sasuke leaned up and kissed him. "I love you, dobe."

"Love you, teme."

It was going to be a long night. Naruto's stomach wasn't going to like him.

**END.**

* * *

**AN: And with THAT done... I'm going on a hiatus T.T I have too much school work (Two essays, four 300+ page books to read, and finals. Ugh.). But hey, Christmas is coming up, so hopefully I'll get something done XD Maybe even -gasp- Roommates 3... or maybe not, we'll see... I'm having trouble trying to make that one come together in my head... I might also post a short fic on my LJ/Y-gal. Thanks for the reviews, all! I'm SO sorry I couldn't reply to them all this time around (I'll make an effort to reply to all the reviews from this last chapter. It's only fair). The next fic, I will, promise. You guys really make the whole writing experience worthwhile, so you deserve the replies, and I feel bad that I haven't been able to reply to them all. But seriously, you guys are awesome! Domo Arigatou!**

**Sarge out.**


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